The forum at the Central Bank has been organised by the bank and the Treasury Department of the World Bank.
Dookeran said the People's Partnership Government has been reluctant to make withdrawals from the fund because it believes the HSF must become strong enough to offer a real buffer for the economy.
"The Fund represents something like 18% of GDP," the minister said.
"When we look at that in the context of other funds that have been established - particularly in Norway and New Zealand - this is a small figure but for us it is a large undertaking.
"And therefore the challenge is to continue to build on the fund to give us the future financial security in the Trinidad and Tobago balance sheet."
Participants in the forum included the managers of the HSF and officials from the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance who are involved in its management. Representatives of key financial institutions also attended.
The Minister praised the fund managers for maintaining its growth rates during the global economic recession when most similar funds suffered major losses.
Dookeran addressed a concern expressed by some about the relevance of continuing to put money into such a fund when the country is running a fiscal deficit.
"For me, the answer is rather simple because we cannot operate on a cash basis but we must provide the resource for the future security in the financial system," he said.
"We must establish the right management approaches in dealing with the fund to ensure that the returns within an acceptable level of risk can be maximised. The Fund has weathered volatile financial markets in its relatively short existence, some way say better than some of our larger and older peers," Dookeran said.
Read Minister Dookeran's full speech at news.gov.tt
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