Where the opportunities lie

To put economic diversification in motion, investment promotion agency InvesTT has indentified seven key sectors that hold potential for foreign investors. Chairperson of InvesTT Kristine Gibbon-Thompson and Minister of Trade and Investment Vasant Bharath highlight some of the areas in which interest has been especially avid.

One area of particular interest has been the agri-processing industry. T&T exports some of the finest cocoa in the world. InvesTT believes there is a clear opportunity to bring more of the value chain to the country by processing its award-winning cocoa into chocolate liquors and manufacturing other chocolate products in the country for export.

Clean energy is another area which has gained attention. “Based on our proximity to growing markets, input resources and inexpensive energy, Trinidad and Tobago is ideal for the development of a solar industrial park. For an investor, we offer a very compelling proposition for the entire photovoltaic value chain,” explains Mrs. Gibbon-Thompson.

Minister Bharath points to another sector which they are trying hard to push to foreign investors: business process outsourcing (BPO), particularly for financial services companies. “Very recently, we’ve had both Royal Bank of Canada and Scotiabank put their back offices in Trinidad and Tobago. Business process outsourcing in Trinidad and Tobago is very promising; we are looking at it very aggressively and we hope to see more multinational companies implementing back offices in Trinidad and Tobago.
“Many companies are now pulling their services out of India and bringing them back to the U.S. We offer a much cheaper service than the U.S. and we are much closer to home than India.”