Philip Buxo was speaking at an event sponsored by the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Calgary. He noted that the economy would show growth of 2.5 per cent for 2011 despite a lethargic global economy.
He described Trinidad & Tobago as a country that’s regaining its “rightful place” as a regional hub for business and trade in the Caribbean and the Americas where investing is now simple and efficient, with transparency in all business dealings. He said T&T continues to maintain consistent policies in international trade, investment and human resources.
He noted that while the energy sector continues to drive the economy the focus of the new government is to expand outside of that sector.
“Trinidad and Tobago is open for Business,” Buxo told his audience. He added that Persad-Bissessar’s vision for business is that it should dive the economy with the government as a facilitator for the private sector. He said that is evident in the fact that the country offers the most attractive investment destination n the Caribbean.
Buxo noted that the focus of the Canadian government has shifted from Africa to its neighbours in the Caribbean and South America. And that makes trade critically important.
“We have been aggressively working on concluding the CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement and hope to have this agreement in place within the next two years,” Buxo stated.
Buxo is the Vice Dean of the College of Negotiators for the trade talks and led the negotiations in Toronto on November 2nd and 3rd. He reported that negotiations are progressing “smoothly and all the stakeholders private and public sectors are engaged on both sides.”
The diplomat highlighted the relation between Canada and the Trinidad & Tobago noting that Canada remains one of the country’s main trading partners with a favourable balance of trade of about Cdn $160 million. Exports to Canada amounted to Cdn$460 million while imports remained at Cdn$300 million, he said.
Trinidad & Tobago’s main exports to Canada are methanol, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), iron, fuel oils, fresh fish, beverages and office machine parts. Imports from Canada include newsprint, dried split peas, potatoes, sardines and wheat. Buxo noted that more than 174 Trinidad & Tobago companies have trade relationships with Canada.
Buxo said an analysis of what Canada can offer Trinidad & Tobago shows that the strength is in Health care, tertiary education and heavy oils.
He noted that his official visit to Calgary was to focus on two major business and co-operative opportunities for Trinidad and Tobago.
The first is to engage Alberta’s top producers of heavy oil to discuss the energy opportunities that exist in Trinidad and Tobago. The second is to promote the country as a location for sourcing skilled workers for the Energy industry in Alberta.
Buxo said these initiatives include partnering with Petrotrin to increase their production and exploration capacity and the Development of heavy oil opportunities in Trinidad & Tobago.
“We are having meetings the relevant agencies and organizations in Alberta informing them of the availability of skilled workers from the Trinidad and Tobago energy sector,” Buxo said.
He added, “We also Aim to develop a cross accreditation program with technical institutions in Alberta to facilitate the certification of Trinidad and Tobago nationals to work in the Alberta energy sector. The aim is to develop strategies for streamlining the process for Trinidad and Tobago skilled workers to work in Alberta’s energy sector.”
The High Commissioner also spoke of the stable and democratic system at home, which he said is alive and well.
“As you may be aware, Trinidad and Tobago has recently been under a state of emergency, and the curfew implemented on August 21st, 2011 was recently lifted on November 7th, 2011.” He noted that while there may have been risks of some negative fallout from the emergency measures the prime minister made it clear that the security of citizens took precedence over everything else.
He said the emergency measures have demonstrated the government’s determination to face the problem of crime head on. “This visible “taking back of the streets” by community involvement that we have witnessed during the State of Emergency is undoubtedly one of its major successes,” he said.
He said the Government has advised that strong initiatives would be introduced to strengthen security. These include further strengthening of the Central Intelligence Command, greater visibility for the protective services, enhanced surveillance and a range of community programmes. One of these is a TT$300 million initiative to create as many as 20,000 jobs.
Buxo also spoke of his priorities for serving nationals living in Canada, noting that number one of the list is easier access to services through the High commission in Ottawa and the Consulate General in Toronto, which houses the immigration department. He said there are plans for that department to visit major Canadian cities in 2012 and 2013 to facilitate nationals seeking services in that area.
He noted that since his arrival in Ottawa the waiting time for passports has been cut from six weeks to four and persons waiting to obtain new machine readable passports can get extensions on their old documents until 2013 to facilitate the complete conversion.
He also announced plans for an Honorary Consul in Calgary to further enhance trade relationships and serve the needs of nationals living in Alberta.
“Our people have achieved so much in Canada. That makes us proud,” the High Commissioner said.
“There are approximately 120,000 nationals from Trinidad and Tobago living in Canada…making significant and valuable contributions in every aspect of the Canadian landscape,” he added.
He announced that as a follow up to the the Gala awards for nationals introduced in May this year the High Commission will soon invite nominations for a book of distinguished nationals of Trinidad and Tobago in Canada. He said that would be part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
He also promised that the High Commission would hold discussions with Trinidad and Tobago organizations across Canada to plan for the 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations next year.
Buxo concluded by assigning nationals the role of “on the ground ambassadors” and told them they remain a very important part of “our presence here in Canada." He said, "We look forward to your support in the development of Trinidad and Tobago."
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