The path was not easy. He had to overcome personal health problems,
prejudices of race and culture, and strong disbelief. He did not posses special talents,
but had a dream of making something special, not only for him, but something that
would benefits the whole nation.
In this paper he demonstrates that the ownership of technical expertise and capital in
the country are not the main determining factors for development. Most importantly,
are commitment, confidence in own abilities, hard work and perseverance to make a
dream real. Staatsolie, the national petroleum company provides today, 2010, not only
an important economical and technological contribution for the development of
Suriname, but has also enriched the country with a well trained national cadre, with
practical experience of its own, to promote and to participate in the development of
petroleum resources of the country, in such a way that the nation gets a just part of
the benefits. Jharap believes that the example of Staatsolie also can be applied to other
sectors and in other developing countries as well. He calls this experience: “the
Staatsolie Model”. He dedicates this presentation to the Youth and the aspiring
entrepreneurs (of Suriname) and hopes that after reading this article, they loudly say:
“If that little cooli-boy, from boiti, could build such a company, then I can realize my
dream as well”. (Boiti is the neglected back country).

Download the brochure

click here for the Dutch version / ga naar de Nederlandse versie

Related articles:
De Back Story bij de “De realisatie van een droom (Staatsolie)” (in Dutch)
By Edddy S. Jharap, former Managing Director of Staatsolie