She was speaking at the annual Pravasi conference, which ends on Monday with Persad-Bissessar being honoured as the Chief Guest of the event.
An excerpt from her speech is published below:
"Within the recent past, the interest in India by people in my country has been heightened.
"This is so not only because of the emergence of India as a super power and economy, but also because of the excellent diplomatic relations shared between our countries and the frequency of cultural visits, technical cooperation and academic exchanges at the level of our Universities.
"India has been and continues to be a great friend of Trinidad and Tobago and has extended this hand of friendship by providing hundreds of scholarships for our nationals to train in world class Indian Institutions.
"For too long we have looked upon the former colonial masters for the answers to our problems; we must now also look inwards, tapping the vast latent resources which we undoubtedly possess.
"When our first Prime Minister, Dr. Eric Williams, met India's first Prime Minister in New Delhi, they discussed these very issues and the initial results of those discussions was the establishment of an Institute for Afro Asian studies at the Trinidad campus of the University of the West Indies.
"Today the work started by that Institute has grown considerably and the Indian inputs have steadily increased.
"It is now incumbent upon us maintain that dream of our founding fathers.
"I have always regarded India as one area of light, of knowledge and wisdom.
"Today, India has demonstrated this in no small way by its contribution not only to spiritual well being across the globe, but emerging as one of the fastest growing economies.
"It has provided a model for social and economic transformation which developed countries grappling with issues of financial and economic sustainability as well as long term growth and the ability to attract direct foreign investments may well choose to study.
"In particular, India has a lot to teach the world in terms of how to attain food security, as well as to make affordable computers and I-Pads which are basic tools in generating creativity and international competitiveness.
"India perhaps understands and fully appreciates the fact that human development which combines the spiritual and the secular is the key to improving the quality of life in any society.
"Even as India grows its economy at home, Trinidad and Tobago provides an excellent opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs and investors to set up manufacturing and service industries in my country where we are committed to a program of diversification and are offering attractive incentives to investors.
"Further, Trinidad and Tobago has a number of trade agreements which will allow for market access into the 600 million Central and Latin American markets.
"For those of us who may be unaware of Trinidad and Tobago, we are the world’s number one exporter of methanol and at times urea.
"In fact the largest methanol plant in the world is located in Trinidad and Tobago.
"With one hundred years of experience in oil exploration and our technological savvy in gas monetization, TT and India can develop a strong partnership to assist emerging oil and gas nations in the south, thus giving life to the much touted South-South Cooperation and Trade."
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