{"id":1170,"date":"2025-07-18T16:36:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/?p=1170"},"modified":"2025-07-18T16:36:55","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:36:55","slug":"jennifer-geerlings-simons-surinames-first-female-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/2025\/07\/18\/jennifer-geerlings-simons-surinames-first-female-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer Geerlings-Simons: Suriname\u2019s first female leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a landmark parliamentary session on July 6, 2025, Suriname\u2019s National Assembly elected Jennifer Geerlings-Simons as the country\u2019s next president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geerlings-Simons is the first woman to lead the nation since its independence in 1975. The political transition occurs at a pivotal moment for Suriname\u2019s economy, as the country edges closer to becoming a significant oil producer in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the Final Investment Decision (FID) now in place for the offshore Block 58 project, the new administration\u2019s approach to resource governance, regulatory stability, and local content development will be closely watched by industry players and international partners alike. Economists caution that challenging times lie ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Winston Ramautarsingh, a former president of Suriname\u2019s economists\u2019 association, the country faces roughly USD400 million in annual debt payments\u2014funds it currently lacks. He noted that the prior administration deferred repayments but only delayed the inevitable by doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She will lead Suriname until 2030. Suriname\u2019s massive USD12.2 billion GranMorgu project, led by oil major TotalEnergies, will begin production in 2028. GranMorgu is Suriname\u2019s first major offshore development and has an estimated resource reserve of 750 million barrels. \u201cI am very aware of the responsibility now placed on our shoulders, a responsibility compounded for me by the fact that I am the first woman to hold this office,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do not need many words. My thanks and we will get to work.\u201d \u201cI will use all my knowledge, strength and insight to make our wealth available to all our fellow citizens, with special attention to our young people and those who have so far not had the opportunities to develop,\u201d she added<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Guyana\u2019s Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret\u2019d), Mark Phillips greets President of the Republic of Suriname, Dr Jennifer Geerlings-Simons on her historic inauguration on July 16. President Geerlings-Simons expressed her intention to work closely with the Government of Guyana on bilateral matters of mutual interest. \u00a0\u00a0(Photo Credit: Office of the Prime Minister)
\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a landmark parliamentary session on July 6, 2025, Suriname\u2019s National Assembly elected Jennifer Geerlings-Simons as the country\u2019s next president. Geerlings-Simons is the first woman to lead the nation since its independence in 1975. The political transition occurs at a pivotal moment for Suriname\u2019s economy, as the country edges closer to becoming a significant oil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":68,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,80],"tags":[88],"class_list":{"0":"post-1170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-suriname-updates","9":"tag-suriname-oil-and-gas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1173,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions\/1173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/energyguyana.gy\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}