London Visit

When the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago visited London recently as Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth, a business delegation consisting of about 16 top businesspersons, including CEOs of large corporations and successful entrepreneurs, accompanied the Government team.

Coming out of basically flat growth  in 2010 and a mere two percent growth projected for 2011, re-invigorating the T&T economy is a priority for all –  Government, Business, Labour and Civil society.

The business delegation’s goal was to take advantage of the key business networking opportunities provided to Commonwealth countries, given our need to increase direct foreign investment and trade opportunities. Businesses recognise the need to seek out new markets and opportunities for growth, and therefore delegations like these are viewed as an investment for the future.

New investment such as start ups and expansion of existing businesses into new products and services can be achieved by joint ventures and alliances. Delegates got a chance to promote T&T as an attractive economy with significant investment opportunities.  Caribbean countries generally can also be attractive for foreign companies seeking to expand their markets through local distributors.

Of major importance on this visit were the addresses by the Prime Minister and other Government officials at the main business meetings, which spoke to facilitating ease of doing business in T&T.   The Government  must now demonstrate its commitment by moving with haste on “fixing” some of the impediments to doing business identified in the competitiveness and ease of doing business reports, since foreign investors will easily move on to another location if the promises do not materialize soon. For example, there are currently initiatives in place such as the TTBiz Link, which are designed to make doing business with Government agencies more efficient, but they are all taking too long to be made operational.  We now wonder if end March is still the target date for the roll out of the TTBiz Link’s first module.

The visit also provided the opportunity for a very successful “business dialogue and networking reception” where five top businesspersons and myself, as the Chamber’s CEO, addressed attendees at the High Commission’s office in London. The Prime Minister and Minister of Trade also delivered remarks.  The corporate presentations cited the opportunities which exist in T&T and included, inter alia, energy, telecommunications and entertainment, and also spoke of the successes and possible opportunities for expansion of two of the conglomerates operating in T&T. These were rounded off by my remarks on how the Chamber supports business growth in T&T.

In addition to the several group meetings many one-on-one meetings were held by the business delegates and talks will continue on some of these initiatives, as all will be looking for a return on their investments.

All of this is good and necessary but as successful businesspersons we know that marketing efforts must be supported by timely follow through and delivery. Various Governments  of T&T have made significant investments in the past on trade missions, hosting conferences, etc., for which the return on investments are yet to be determined. This time too, unless the promised enhanced business environment materialises, this London trip would be just another cordial visit.

The Chamber remains committed to doing its part and working with all to forge a strong sustainable national economy.