PM Kamla engages interest groups in pre-budget consultations

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar continues her pre-budget consultations Wednesday, which she began on Tuesday.

She and Finance Minister Winston Dookeran are meeting with representatives of the Tobago House of Assembly and other interests groups.

They have already held consultations on the first budget to be presented by her People's Partnership government.

The meetings are in keeping with her pledge of participatory government.

Tuesday's discussions involved representatives of 10 interest groups representing youth, the fashion industry, visual arts, labour, local manufacturers and the business sector.

A key theme from the consultations has been the diversification of the economy.

Several stakeholder attending the talks were pleased that for the first time a prime minister was so actively involved in budget consultations.

Catherine Kumar, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, told the Trinidad Express, "Instead of asking for a long wish list of 101 items, we took a more strategic approach with some main strategic items we wanted to be included in the budget."

She told the paper the focus was on diversification through innovation since Trinidad and Tobago cannot rely on the energy sector alone. She said her group's position was that the government should place more emphasis on the tourism and agriculture sectors.

TTMA's agenda was on revamping of eTecK and manufacturing beyond beyond Caricom. "The meeting was very favourable; they were very receptive. We just have to wait and see what is delivered in the budget," Greig Laughlin, President of the Association told the paper.

Designer and fashion industry representative Heather Jones pitched for the government to continue to build the fashion sector in manufacturing.

The consensus was that the meeting went "very, very well".

The Government Information Services (GIS) reported that stakeholders "were able to engage in lively discussion" with Persad-Bissessar.

The Prime Minister described the discussions as "frank and focused".

She said, "I believe that the representatives felt very comfortable and I was pleased that they aired some very heartfelt concerns and put forward solutions to many of the issues that we are now dealing with in this country”.

The GIS said the Prime Minister considers these meetings critical in ensuring that the voice of the people is "heard and taken into account" as her Government strives to ensure "transparency, accountability and participation in the development of all national policies and initiatives targeted to citizens of Trinidad and Tobago."