Speaking in London at the Commonwealth Business Council's Economic Partnership Forum the Prime Minister said, "Now more than ever, the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago are working hard to stabilise the local economy and rebuild the society under the guided principles of transparency and accountability."
She noted that her government laid in Parliament strong procurement legislation to enhance accountability.
Directing some of her comments to potential investors, Persad-Bissessar said the country provides an excellent opportunity for members of the Commonwealth family to conduct successful business throughout the Americas.
She cited the country's attractive prices for natural gas as a fuel for industry, well-educated population, its highly stable democracy, respect for the rule of law, well-developed infrastructure, its tradition of doing business with some of the world's largest conglomerates and its over-100 years of experience in the energy sector.
"Our vision is that Trinidad and Tobago, with its wealth of experience and highly skilled workforce, would become an energy services hub, supplying services to the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa," she said.
Persad-Bissessar stressed that her government sees the international arena and the world system as a "space of opportunity to build partnerships, to leverage resources and to influence the direction of decision-making regionally and globally."
She added, "We have begun to position Trinidad and Tobago to look for new marketing and development opportunities and we will seek to capitalize on the positive relationships we already enjoy with countries such as the United States of America, and our Commonwealth partners Canada and Australia; all of whom have companies presently operating in Trinidad and Tobago in the energy and non-energy sectors.
"We continually strive to be competitive in the global environment by making the most out of the various formal trade agreements we have negotiated with hemispheric partners such as Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Venezuela.
"Trinidad and Tobago, of course takes great pride in its long standing and close relationship with the United States of America. We continue to enjoy fruitful and dynamic commercial relations. U.S. firms have invested more than one billion U.S. dollars in recent years - mostly in our petrochemical, oil/gas and iron/steel sectors.
"Total U.S. foreign direct investment inflows stood at $US375.8 million in 2007, which represented 45 per cent of Trinidad and Tobago’s total foreign direct investment. Other large foreign investors include the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Norway, Australia and Spain."
She said Trinidad and Tobago looks forward to even greater collaboration in the near future more so in the areas of tourism, high value manufacturing, agriculture, ship building and repair, fashion, film and entertainment as well as the establishment of an International Business Centre.
The Prime Minister also spoke about the vast disparities in the levels of development of individual countries in the Commonwealth noting that 49 of the 54 Commonwealth states are developing countries. She urged the most developed members to become advocates for the underdeveloped and developing ones.
"In doing so, they act with corporate social responsibility, as well as care, and secure their investments in these nations. They must also be prepared not only to encourage investments in these small-island developing states (SIDS), but also dedicate, as a matter of policy a percentage of their investments, to SIDS," Persad-Bissessar stated.
The Prime Minister also said that as the current chair of the Commonwealth and the Head of Government of a democratic nation, she wants to ensure that human rights are protected and maintained throughout the Commonwealth and the world.
She also spoke about education, which she said provides an opportunity for another level of economic partnerships, "as the competencies of a country in a particular field of endeavour is leveraged for the mutual benefit of both supplier and buyer."
She added, "In this regard may I take this opportunity to applaud the work of several British Universities as well as Canadian Universities who have been providing distance education in T&T...the time has come for us to use ICT to broaden even more, within the Commonwealth the opportunities for empowerment through education."
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