Diversification is Crucial for Long-term Sustainability
The oil and natural gas industry of Trinidad and Tobago have spiraled its economy into a globally recognized player. However, there is a concerted effort to not allow the economy to be vulnerable to the vagaries of the globally driven hydrocarbon sector. It is the common belief of both the government and the private sector that Trinidad and Tobago needs to intensify its diversification program beyond the energy sector.
“The economic diversification of our country is now being advanced as never before,” declared Prime Minister Patrick Manning. He said that Trinidad and Tobago is becoming the new industrial hub of the wider Caribbean region through tremendous investment in the industrial sector and spin-off businesses.
Investments in this sector include the establishment of a plastics industry through the production of ethylene, polyethylene, propylene, and polypropylene, the building of facilities for the production of melamine, urea ammonium nitrate; a malaeic anhydride processing facility; and an acetic acid plant, as well as plants for the production of aluminum, iron, and steel.
Ian Collier, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce pointed out that even though diversification in the hydrocarbon-based industrial sectors is important to the rest of the economy, there should be focus on three crucial sectors – information communications technology (ICT), the International Financial Center (IFC), and tourism.
“This strategy of picking winners is the same one used in the focused development of our world-class hydrocarbon sector. We picked a winner, ran with it and the rest, as they say, is now history. In this case we are picking three winners, all three of which can be funded and fast-tracked by the hydrocarbon sector,” reiterated Collier.
Collier added that while these sectors can all be classified as entities unto themselves, there is a powerful inter-connective synergy between the three of them. “An economy with an IFC automatically embraces ICT, and once both are in place, tourism is defined and assured on a major scale,” he said. Declaring that ICT is the enabling wave of the future, Collier added that the current building of technology and industrial parks is a major step in developing the necessary technology infrastructure for facilitating developments in education, business, and government.
Trinidad and Tobago is considered the financial services hub of the English-speaking Caribbean, and the goal of both the private and public sector is to develop this sector into the International Financial Center of the region. “With the political will, leadership of the Minister of Finance, and the commitment of the business community, together with an understanding of the cultures, languages, and expectations of the region’s marketplace, we can achieve this major goal of our country,” said Collier.
