Trinidad In Europe 2012
The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce will lead a trade mission from 25th February to 07th March 2012 to Germany (Hamburg, Munich), The Netherlands (Rotterdam) and the United Kingdom (Birmingham and Manchester). The mission is fully funded by the TradeCom Facility, which is an ACP Group Programme financed by the European Development Fund; divided into three main components:
- Formulation of trade policies
- Trade negotiations
- Implementation of trade policies and international trade agreements (dealing with the strengthening of institutional capacity)
TradeCom has selected the consulting firm, Imani Development based in the UK, to identify EU counterparts for the TT business to business meetings.
Expected Results
- Development of strategic partnerships with firms in the UK and the Netherlands and with other BSOs in Germany
- Development of market-entry strategies for Members of the Chamber in specific sectors
- Access to trade and market intelligence for Members of the Chamber via TradeCom
- Strengthen capacity of Members of the Chamber to export to the EU
- Enhance business contacts between the Chamber and European enterprises
- Establish links that facilitate access to market intelligence of Trinidad and Tobago business community
The Chamber, via responses from a survey to members, has identified companies which have export-ready goods and services. As such the business delegation will comprise of:
- Associated Brands
- ANSA McAl Group of Companies
- Angostura Ltd
- Infotech Caribbean Limited
- Intelligent Business Advantage
- Electrical Industries Limited
- Neal and Massy ICT Group
- PC Consultants
- Trinidad Systems Limited
- Trinidad Cement Limited
A senior official from the Ministry of Trade and Industry will also accompany the mission.
Background
In 2008, CARIFORUM (CARICOM and Dominican Republic) signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) signaling CARIFORUM’s transition from a preferential agreement to a reciprocal trading agreement.
As such we are required to open our markets over a period of time with some limitations to the manufacturers and service providers of the EU, one of the largest trading blocs in the world and Trinidad and Tobago’s third largest market (after the USA and CARICOM). While the signing of the EPA has provided new opportunities for the private sector it also has presented obstacles.
With this in mind, in 2010 the Chamber requested a study from TradeCom Facility to explore the reasons hindering the local private sector from increasing exports of goods and services to Europe.
The study concluded that the knowledge of the EU markets and also market intelligence in particular were severely lacking and the cost of acquiring the latter is quite costly for some firms. It was further noted that there is an overwhelming predominance of small firms especially in the services domain which have little or no foreign equity participation and few corporate connections with the EU. As such high priority should be placed on seeking strategic alliances for these firms to enable them to reduce the costs of exporting.
Included among the study’s recommendations, the Chamber is
- To undertake more sector specific trade missions with no more than 10 firms to the EU- based on a priority listing of sectors that are export ready for obtaining strategic partnerships. The latter was a crucial objective for service companies in addition to their seeking export opportunities.
- To launch a sustained EPA information and discussion campaign
- To monitor EPA related developments affecting T&T and the wider region including the dynamics of implementation
- To be proactive in forging partnerships with European BSOs.
In respect of implementing recommendations of this study, the Chamber in June 2011 indicated its interest in a technical assistance project in “Institutional Capacity Building in the Area of International Trade and Market Intelligence for the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce” through the same funding source-TradeCom.
Through the organization of this trade mission, this project aims to provide the Chamber with the needed capacity to fulfill its role to support its members in achieving new business opportunities in Europe following the signing of the CARIFORUM/EU EPA.
We will continue to provide you with further information as the project progresses including the outcomes of the mission.
