2019 ANNUAL POST BUDGET ANALYSIS MEETING(EVENT IS SOLD OUT!)

It’s that time of year once again when the T&T Chamber hosts the most popular post budget event. The Post Budget Analysis Meeting always takes place the morning after the National Budget presentation for the upcoming fiscal year. The Minister of Finance has once again been invited to this event as the key presenter.

The event presents opportunities for members of the business community to engage directly with the Honourable Minister, and to an expert panel of professionals who can speak to the key issues relating to the economy, the development plans being catered for and how the country intends to finance them.

We are pleased to confirm the following presenters and panelists for this year’s meeting:

 

Mr. Mark Loquan

Mr. Mark Loquan is a Director and the President of the National Gas Company of Trinidad & Tobago Limited (NGC). He is a Chemical Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in the petrochemical industry. Formerly, the CEO of Yara Pilbara in Australia, he has led NGC since 2016, expanding the business into new ventures and international territories, streamlining processes with technology and strengthening the company’s presence in the global value chain. A proponent of systems-thinking, Mr. Loquan has advocated for greater collaboration across the local energy sector on issues such as supply management, gas allocation and energy efficiency. He also serves the country on several boards and Government committees.

 

Mr. Wade George

Mr. Wade George leads EY’s Caribbean tax practice. He is currently based at the Trinidad office and has been involved in a broad range of business advisory roles touching a wide range of industries throughout the Caribbean. His experience in tax systems and working with tax administrators spans over 25 years across Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the OECS and Jamaica. He was a leader of EY’s Caribbean Tax Desk in New York, the Tax Partner in the Barbados and Trinidad offices, a former director of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce and member of the editorial Board of Business Trinidad & Tobago magazine.

Mr. George is an Attorney-at-Law (Hugh Wooding Law School). He also holds a Masters of Law (University of London, Queen Mary and Westfield College) and a B.A. Law and Sociology (University of Kent).

 

Mr. Reyaz Ahamad

Mr. Reyaz Ahamad is the current President of the T&T Chamber. He is an Executive Director of Southern Sales and Service Co Limited, a 3rdgeneration family business, in operation for 65 years.

Mr. Ahamad manages the Automotive Sales Division for Mazda, Kia, Isuzu and Audi and the Vehicle Rentals division. He is also the Chairman of Caribbean Finance Co Ltd, an auto financing company, in operation for 40 years. He is a Non-Executive Director of Agostini Limited, one if the largest distribution and pharmaceutical group in the country.

Mr. Ahamad is a member of United Way. He is an alumnus of Presentation College, San Fernando and York University, Toronto, Canada.

Mr. Ahamad will join the panel at this event to provide the business perspective to the Post Budget Analysis discussions for Fiscal 2020.

 

Ms. Kiran Maharaj (The Moderator)

Ms. Kiran Maharaj is the Vice President of the T&T Chamber. She will participate as the moderator of the Post Budget Analysis discussions. Kiran is also the President of the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC), of which she was one of the founding members of MIC back in 2015. She is the Managing Director of Caribbean Lifestyle Communications Media Network and Caribbean Lifestyle Productions (Music Radio 97.1FM, The People’s Station Radio 90.5FM & Heartbeat Radio 104.1FM). She is currently the Vice President of the Trinidad & Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) and is a former President and is a Debates Commissioner with the Trinidad & Tobago Debates Commission.

Ms. Maharaj began her 20 year + career in media and entertaintment as a freelance journalist. Her passion for journalism eventually led her to become a freelance correspondent for CNN World Report for two years. She is a member of Alliance for Women in Media based in Washington DC and in was featured in one of their publications as a “Woman To Watch”, dubbing her “an island of one”.

Kiran is the founder of the world’s first radio station for women, Heartbeat Radio. This is the milestone in her career that she says means the most to her. She is a passionate philanthropist, particularly to community work involving women who are victims of domestic violence. This is what prompted her to develop Heartbeat Radio 104.1FM – Radio for Women, which launched on the eve of International Women’s Day in 2005. In 2011 she was nominated by the Central Florida Community for their Women of Distinction Award.

Ms. Maharaj is also a Past President of the Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce, T&T. In 2006, she was awarded a Fellowship in Broadcast Leadership and Management from the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington DC and remains the only non-U.S. citizen selected to be part of their programme. Ms. Maharaj was also the Co-Chair and Project Lead of the Local Organizing Committee for the International Press Institute’s (IPI) in 2012 World Congress Meeting which was held in Trinidad, hosting more than 300 journalists from 70 countries. She was also the Project Lead and Co-Chair of the LOC for the IFEX Annual General Meeting, Trinidad in 2015 and currently sits as the TTPBA representative for IPI and IFEX.

Ms. Maharaj has degrees in Literature, Political Science, Business Administration; Diploma in Journalism. She holds executive education certificates in Effective Media Management and Strategy and The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports from Harvard Business School. A Master’s certificate in Internet Strategy and Guerrilla Marketing and several certifications in Digital Media and Marketing are among Ms. Maharaj’s other certifications.

 

The Honourable Minister of Finance, Colm Imbert MP, has been officially invited to give the feature presentation and participate on the discussion panel. He has done this for the past 10 years loyally year after year as one of his first official appearances after the National Budget reading.

The T&T Chamber would like to acknowledge and thank our sponsors of the 2019 Annual Post Budget Analysis Meeting:

 

Platinum sponsors:

Guardian Life of the Caribbean Limited, First Citizens, EY, bmobile,

 

Gold sponsor:

The Trinidad and Tobago Unit Trust Corporation and Trinidad and Tobago

 

Bronze sponsor:

Southern Sales & Service

 

The T&T Chamber’s Post Budget Analysis Breakfast Meeting will take place on 8th October, 2019 at the Hyatt in the POS Ballroom.