Contact Magazine Urban Centres Issue

Contents

1

18 The Thriving East - West Corridor 20 Urban Passenger Distribution Preliminary Planning 22 Disaster preparedness Are we prepared?

24 Tobago’s Growing Pains 26 Green Buildings - a major step to a more sustainable T&T

A quarterly publication of The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

The Human City: Urban Planners 28 Woodford Square and Environs: go Back to the an International Heritage District Future

Increasing Urbanisation and the Need for Planning

The Point Lisas Industrial Estate and Trinidad and Tobago the Port of Point Lisas seeks to become a is considered to be hemispheric economic one of, or perhaps the powerhouse with a most, ambitious project of independent high quality of life, and an innovation-driven Trinidad and Tobago. economy that will sustain us for generations.

8

10

30 Economic and Financial Statistics 32 Economic Outlook 33 Nine Month 2014 Review

Gateway Chaguanas

The Future of our Capital District

The changes slowly In terms of the coming to Chaguanas are national GDP, the part of a greater plan. services that are Chaguanas is one of the c u r r e n t l y 4Cs cited as growth poles, headquartered in the the other three being capital do not Couva, Carapichaima and contribute to more than 30 percent. Considering the trend towards Charlieville, identified in the Government's Mediumdecentralization, these services can now be Term Policy Framework 2011-2014 for concentrated found in other locations throughout our island. economic development.

14

16

36 New oil exploration - or old oil exploitation?

38 Energy Statistics 42 Implementing Local Content Policies in Oil, Gas and Mining - Getting to Common Ground, Pt.11

Editor: Halima Khan Editorial Board: Communications Committee: Moonilal Lalchan, Catherine Kumar, Hugh Ferreira, Anthony Agostini, Andrew Johnson

43 Welcome to New Members

Design & Layout JG Design Caribbean Published by Eureka Communications Limited Suite #2 No.9 Avenue First, St. James, Trinidad W.I. Tel: (868) 622-2017 • (868) 628-1555 Fax: • (868) 622-4475 E-mail: • contacteureka@yahoo.com • lanny5052@gmail.com • jasong@tstt.net.tt

55 Business Hall of Fame Inductees 2014

For The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Columbus Circle, Westmoorings, P.O. Box 499, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago W.I. Tel: (868) 637-6966 Fax: (868) 637-7425 E-mail: chamber@chamber.org.tt • Website: www.chamber.org.tt For this magazine contact: Tel: (868) 637-6966

56 P3 Consulting

Tobago Division:Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce 2nd Floor ANSA McAL Building, Milford Road, Scarborough, Tobago Tel: (868) 639-2669 Fax: (868) 639-2669 E-mail: tobagochamber@chamber.org.tt

Advertisers

Information on Trinidad & Tobago

3

rinidad and Tobago (T&T) has a population of approximately 1.3 million people who inhabit 4,827 square kilometers (1,886 miles) in Trinidad and 300 square kilometers (117 miles) in Tobago. Trinidad is located between 10º 2’ and 11º12’ N latitude and 60º 30’ and 61º 56’ W longitude or 11 Kilometers (6.8 miles) of the eastern coast of Venezuela. Tobago is located 32.2 Kilometers (20 miles) to the north-east of Trinidad. There are two international sea ports in Trinidad, Port-of-Spain and in Point Lisas. The International airports are located in Piarco, Trinidad and Crown Point, Tobago.

T

Trinidad’s economy is primarily dependent on the petrochemical sector, while the island of Tobago is mainly dependent on tourism.

Diego Martin, Water Wheel

The twin island republic boasts a multi-ethnic people, diverse culture and unique cuisine. As a result of its cosmopolitan population, the country celebrates a significant number of festivals around the year including carnival, Phagwa or Holi, Divali and Eid-Ul-Fitr. Tobago the smaller island, has a population of just over 54,000 and has an interesting history in that, during the colonial period, French, Dutch and British Forces fought for the possession of Tobago and the Island changed hands more than 22 times – more than any other Caribbean Island.

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

• Guaran

GROUP HEALTH

Every Chamber Member is eligible to benefit from our Group Health and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Plan

teed pro

local and

tection a

gainst

foreign e

• CariCa

mergenc

ies

re Medic

• Favour

al Card

able pre

• Medica

miums

rd disco

For information call: 637-6966 Ext 1310, 1321, 1243

unts

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

5

Reyaz Ahamad – Director Diane Hadad – Chairman, Tobago Division Catherine Kumar – Corporate Secretary & Chief Executive Officer COMMITTEES - TRINIDAD • Communications • Corporate Social Responsibility

VISION STATEMENT We are the Voice of Business.

MISSION STATEMENT To be the voice of business in the development towards a strong, sustainable national economy.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Moonilal Lalchan, President Andrew Sabga – Immediate Past President Robert Trestrail – Senior Vice President Christopher Mack – Vice President Ronald Hinds – Vice President Rakesh Goswami – Vice President Wade George – Director Luana Boyack – Director Paula Rajkumarsingh – Director Jacqueline Francois – Director Jean-Pierre Du Coudray – Director

• Crime & Justice • E-Business, Information Technology & Telecommunications (EBITT) • Energy

• Facilities Management & Maintenance • NOVA • Trade & Business Development • Health, Safety & Environment

COMMITTEES - TOBAGO • Business Development & Tourism • Inter-island Transport

• Security • Environment

HOW TO CONTACT US Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Columbus Circle, Westmoorings, P.O. Box 499, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago W.I. Tel: (868) 637 6966 Fax: (868) 637 7425 E-mail: chamber@chamber.org.tt • Website: www.chamber.org.tt Tobago Division of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce 2nd Floor, ANSA McAL Building, Milford Road, Scarborough, Tobago Tel: (868) 639 2669 Fax: (868) 639 3014 E-mail: tobagochamber@chamber.org.tt Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

Are you looking for an ideal location to host your Private Meetings, Training Sessions, Product or Media Launches, Christmas Cocktails or even your Wedding Receptions?

Then your Chamber is here to meet your needs!

Duncan Campbell Meeting Room

WM Gordon Gordon Board Room

Leon Agostini Conference Hall

Events have become the hallmark for many Corporate Communications and Marketing Divisions and finding that ideal venue is perhaps one of the most important aspects to the success of all activities. At the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce we pride ourselves in providing rooms for small and medium sized functions. Our venue, at Columbus Circle, Westmoorings, has been rented by many members and non-members.

Named after the Chamber’s first President, our Leon Agostini Conference Hall, accommodates Theatre seating up to 200 persons and Banquet seating of 180 (rectangular tables) or 120 (round tables). Our Duncan Campbell Meeting Room can accommodate Theatre seating up to 40 persons and Round table seating up to a maximum of 16 persons. Our special offer to weekend clients is the WM Gordon Gordon Board Room which accommodates up to 14 persons in comfortable executive style.

As a “One Stop Shop” we provide complete services - Wheel-chair access, Parking, High Speed Internet access, Catering, Audio and Video, all in our air- The Chamber’s staff stands ready to assist and will work with you in ensuring the conditioned facility. Our rates are among the lowest, given our secure and scenic success of your event. Upon request we will assist with the coordination at a location. As a member of the Chamber your rental fee is discounted by 10%. reasonable fee.

We invite you to contact Eustace Pierre at 637-6966 ext. 286 or epierre@chamber.org.tt so that a tour of our facilities can be arranged.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to welcoming you.

8

An Editorial Note from the President

Increasing Urbanisation and the Need for Planning

By Moonilal Lalchan

Moonilal Lalchan, President, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

ess than fifty years ago, Trinidad and Tobago would still have been described as largely rural. There were a few towns – notably Arima and San Fernando, but the only ‘real’ one was the capital city of Port of Spain. And to prove it, “Town” was spoken of with a capital “T”.

L

It was the centre of government business and commercial life, and of course the most sophisticated consumer goods, entertainment and living spaces were to be found there.

Today, much of that remains unchanged and Port of Spain is still the main urban district of Trinidad and Tobago.

With the passage of time and rising affluence of the population, the small towns and villages of yesteryear have been steadily developing, while Port of Spain’s central district has expanded to take over its once-residential environs. The West and the East are slowly coming together, while once sleepy villages of Central Trinidad are moving northwards.

Together, these have seen a steady move to

urbanisation, and the current issue of activity) linked to sectors of industry CONTACT (at the risk of appearing “Town- previously identified for development. It can Centric”) is focused on this triangle. also be expected, as plans are implemented, that new residential and commercial areas There are of course, pros and cons to such will be attendant. Readers may learn more development, some of which are highlighted about them in the article from the Ministry in the issue. One of the most critical issues of Planning and Sustainable Development. however, remains the need for proper planning, including not only use of space, but While space did not permit for exploration of the type of buildings we erect, how they are all the country’s urban spaces, we hope that maintained, housing, transportation, disaster readers will find the sample of stories in this preparedness and preservation of our historic issue thought provoking. In particular, urbanisation and planning are inextricably structures. linked, and if in the past treated as merely The Point Lisas Industrial Estate and the Port ideas, they are ideas whose time has come. of Point Lisas is considered to be one of, or perhaps the most, ambitious project of Finally, on behalf of the Board of Directors, independent Trinidad and Tobago. It stands Management and Staff of the T&T Chamber, today as a success story of planned I extend best wishes to all our readers and the development which has favourably redounded nation as we close 2014 and look forward to to the areas which surround it, and to the the New Year. Without a doubt, it will continue to be one of challenges, but I am country as whole. certain that with the national talent for The current administration has undertaken to creativity and indeed, humour, we will establish five growth poles (areas of economic continue to thrive.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

Criteria for student selection - Each student must: • Be unable financially to pursue further education upon graduation, • Demonstrate potential and a willingness to learn, • Attend all scheduled training sessions, and • Complete a data entry form outlining goals, skills & identifing areas requiring development.

The Chamber’s NOVA Committee’s Jumpstart Programme was established in 1998 and seeks to assist school-leavers to learn about the working environment and to access opportunities for employment.

Selected schools and institutions across the country are invited to nominate graduating students to participate in this highly regarded ‘youth development programme’.

Participating company requirements - Each company must: • Pay a weekly recommended stipend, • Assign a mentor to the apprentice and • Complete an assessment review at the end of the apprenticeship.

Further information is available on the Jumpstart Programme from the Chamber’s Secretariat or Cheryl-Lyn Kurban, Project Assistant at 637-6966 ext 228 or ckurban@chamber.org.tt

10

Feature

The Human City: Urban Planners go Back to the Future Ryan Darmanie, Member, Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners rinidad and Tobago seeks to become a hemispheric economic powerhouse with a high quality of life, and an innovation-driven economy that will sustain us for generations. An attainable goal, if not for the fundamental structural deficiencies in our built environment that could derail these ambitions, leading to an even more inefficient and subsidised future, and likely depriving us of our most promising human capital. Urban planners can be the problem solvers that we need, preventing and mending ills created by the unregulated and haphazard development of land, industries, and entire communities.

T

It is an injustice to progress to view planners as clerical gatekeepers in the land development process - the ones who robotically process, and say yay or nay to applications for land development. Planners understand that a nation’s urban form influences its viability, and can assist in ensuring that our environment is becoming increasingly pleasurable, satisfying to the needs of the populace, and enabling of our economic ambitions.

Trinidad and Tobago has undergone a radical demographic shift. Birth rates were 14.7 per thousand in 2011, down from 37.3 percent in 1960. Furthermore, the number of one-person households was 19 percent in 2011. One may compare these figures to the United States where, in 2011, birth rates were 12.7 per thousand, down from 23.7 per thousand in 1960. In other words, our recognised family structures have changed, as they have in in the US and many developed countries of the world.

We need to address the needs of young, single professionals who are postponing marriage and children into later years, if at all, and our growing retiree population. We cannot afford

to throw all of our resources into creating environments geared towards the typical nuclear family. This entails, in particular, a radical overhauling of the location and type of housing being built. The single-family house in the suburbs is not the ideal that all strive for.

advocating for and creating 24-hour, humanscaled environments that people want to work, live, and recreate in. Drawing from centuries of knowledge that were discarded during the automobile revolution of the last century, designers are espousing a set of guiding principles for the layout of the built environment that maximize comfort, Global trends indicate that young efficiency, and accessibility among other professionals, in particular, but also retirees, things. and even a notably increasing number of young families are choosing to live in dense One clear guiding principle is to reduce the neighbourhoods with a mix of housing, prominence of the automobile in the businesses, and ample entertainment and streetscape, making room for pedestrians, recreation, where they can walk or take public bicyclists, and public transportation, thereby transportation to their destinations. Living in increasing accessibility and mobility. This such environments can allow for more diverse may entail a reduction in the number and/or options and time for leisure, given less time width of car lanes, the creation of dedicated spent in a car, or tending to a large house and bus or rail lanes, the widening of sidewalks, yard. The rise of San Francisco as a leading and ensuring that buildings aren’t surrounded tech hub rivalling that of even Silicon Valley by a sea of parking, or high walls and fences exemplifies this notion - companies and capital - they should frame and enhance the are actually following the young workers who streetscape, not be cut off from it. It is refuse to live in the suburban Valley and astonishing to note just how much of a instead crave the vibrancy of city life. In fact, planner’s work in Trinidad and Tobago is today San Francisco is attracting more new dictated by the needs of not people, but the venture capital investment than the Valley, automobile - everything from where to park and leading the way for new emerging urban it, to how a site will be accessed. tech hubs like Silicon Beach in Los Angeles, and Silicon Alley in New York City. Another important principle is building height Compare this to the Tamana InTech Park. to street width ratio. In an urban area, it is The random and frequent interactions between recommended that the ideal ratio is one to diverse groups of people, which feed creative one or greater, that is, if the distance between and innovative ideas, are difficult to replicate buildings on opposite sides of a street is 60 in our landscape where we lack adequate feet, then the buildings themselves should be appealing public spaces, and are forced to get 60 feet or higher in height. This important into a car to get to work, conveniences, or design ratio transforms streets into ‘outdoor places of recreation - ultimately limiting these rooms’, creating dimensions that are most interactions. satisfying to the human experience. It is no coincidence that the cities where this one to At the forefront of urban planning is the area one ratio is most often found, such as Vienna, of urban design, a long-lost notion in Trinidad Paris, and Washington D.C., are considered and Tobago. Urban designers are taking to be among the most beautiful cities in the planning back to its human roots, by world.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

Feature There could be further implications to our lack of these environments. A recent study released by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) reported that Trinidad and Tobago lost a staggering 79 percent of its tertiary educated workforce to emigration during the period 1965-2000. Another 2014 study entitled Decoding Global Talent - based on 200,000 global survey responses from highly-educated individuals - listed the top 30 cities that those surveyed would consider working in. Most of the top ten cities, including Sydney, Barcelona, and Berlin, are known more for their high quality of life ratings than they are for their economic might.

It would appear that today’s educated professionals want to live in liberal, walkable cities full of public life and opportunities for interaction.

Although T&Tis behind in developing vibrant environments, we can follow the example of

cities like Los Angeles. Here revitalisation is being driven by inviting public spaces, and functional, mixed-use neighbourhoods.

Notorious for its low-density, sprawling urban structure, plagued with legendary traffic jams, and lacking adequate public transportation, Los Angeles is taking drastic steps to halt its outward expansion. It is instead focusing on building new housing in its underused downtown area, adapting existing buildings for new residential uses, and investing in an extensive public transportation system including buses and light rail, all informed by a phenomenal urban design plan.

The world’s future is an urban one. Our future lies not in developing more suburbs which imitate Westmoorings, Lange Park, or Bel Air, but in revitalising dense, decaying urban areas like Port of Spain and San Fernando and carefully moulding emerging cities like Chaguanas. We have a great opportunity to not only transform the look and function of our urban centres — creating a physical environment that nurtures creativity and innovation, and is pleasing to locals and visitors alike — but also providing muchneeded market-appropriate housing units, and new customers for urban businesses.

This city which epitomizes car culture, and luxurious mansions in the hills, is seeking to change its image. The Downtown has gone from being a place to drive through, to one that demands a visit, leading to Los Angeles recently being hailed as “America’s Next Great City”.

The question to be examined is whether T&T afford to continue with the present ever sprawling suburbanized, subsidized cardependant society and its resultant costs in time, money, and our best young talent? Or is it the right time to step into the new, urbanised world?

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

11

14

Feature

The Future of our Capital District Carianne Johnson, Member, Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners

D

ecentralization has been utilized as a tool to address a number of issues that plague congested cities. But decentralization has inherent economic drawbacks and Port of Spain is no exception. Port of Spain’s Central Business District (CBD) is thriving during the day but the economic activity dies at night; whereas the outlying communities are hubs for activity at night. This cycle limits economic development and may impact the capital’s ability to consistently draw international investors.

Demographic analysis is an element of economic development that can inform the challenges facing the growth of business in the capital district. For years international companies have integrated demographic analysis into their market surveys and if the demographics do not support economic growth these companies will not invest. Examining the population dynamics and the capacity of our town’s infrastructure provides an insight into the economic development constraints in the capital district.

The district’s population dynamics limit the economic diversity that would encourage consistent economic activity. According to the 2011 Population and Housing Census Demographic Report distributed by the Central Statistical Office, during the years 2000-2011 the capital city experienced a drastic reduction in the population. This exodus of the population was the largest across the municipalities, a drastic loss of over 2% per annum. When people move out of the city so too do the opportunities for economic development. To maintain a profit margin businesses are required to remain easily accessible to their consumers.

In terms of the national GDP, the services that are currently headquartered in the capital do not contribute more than 30 percent.

Considering the trend towards decentralization,

historic quarter is the center of yearly activities including the annual Mardi Gras festivities.

It provides a specific context that attracts revelers from all over the world. The same emphasis on heritage preservation can be utilized as a tool for economic development and encourage investment in the capital district especially in the growth of the entertainment Reversing this trend is crucial to the and carnival related services. This will in revitalization of the capital district. One way turn foster a renewed form of entrepreneurship is to encourage the return of a viable market in the artisan industry. base through additional housing. But the task of providing housing in towns provides The task is therefore in the hands of the its own challenges and should not be the sole government to create a stronger framework responsibility of the government. The for international businesses and foster government can provide incentives for private competition in the private industry. This developers that provide housing options that framework will include providing additional cater to various income levels. Private opportunities for the private industry to create development can also engage in the creation mixed-income housing and encouraging the of student-centered housing for the number preservation of the architectural heritage and of training institutions in the capital city. An charm of the capital district. Additionally, increase in the residents in the capital district our political climate must also support the restores a market based for potential long term returns on investments. businesses.

An investment made under one administration In addition to an increase in the market base, quickly becomes obsolete under a new adequate infrastructure will provide the setting administration as investments are not seen as for the success of businesses in the beneficial to the country’s economic growth, community. Our capital district, like most but beneficial to one political period. This capital cities developed along the coast to political environment stymies the stability encourage trade during the industrial age. needed for long term investment and As the city expanded, it grew around the minimizes the potential for significant historic street network and infrastructure. economic growth. The future of the businesses This concern is evident in most international in the capital depend on this. cities with similar socio-economic histories.

Cities such as London, UK and New Orleans, Port of Spain has for a long time been the USA have dealt with the constraints of a hub for major economic activity, but, has growing city within an historical form. The witnessed severe challenges to its dominance thrust was to reduce traffic through effective over the last decades. Among these, is the public transportation as well as designation erosion of market base through the relocation of historic corridors as pedestrian streets that of citizens to suburban and rural areas and a foster the movement of people, an obvious lack of investment in the preservation of the city’s historic architectural heritage. Without appeal to investors. the framework to encourage targeted Historic quarters can also provide a unique investments Port of Spain will lose its charm that encourages economic comparative advantage to cities like San development, as in New Orleans, USA. Its Fernando and Chaguanas. these services can now be found in other locations throughout our island. This decentralization results in a reduction in the consumer base and high real estate costs, especially for rental accommodation. The city becomes less attractive to any form of investment.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

16

Feature

Gateway Chaguanas n average motorist driving past the central borough of Chaguanas along the Uriah Butler Highway cannot miss the wave of development taking place. If that motorist, heading south, veers off the highway to fill up fuel at the Unipet station, he or she would notice the Brentwood Palms 80-lot gated development of single family homes. A plot of land at Brentwood Palms, which starts at 5,000 square feet, has a price tag of $1.7 million.

Next to the busy station is the popular American franchise Chuck E Cheese's, a $40 million family-friendly restaurant that opened to long lines of eager patrons in July 2014.

As you take the roundabout a few metres down, construction has started on 217 townhouses and duplexes. To come are the Brentwood Town Centre comprising office buildings, restaurants, warehousing and medical facilities covering 76 acres. Then there's the 136-acre Honda South Development of 1,150 residential units and commercial development covering 13 acres. This is according to Krishna Singh, projects consultant at the Maraval-based Caribbean Housing Ltd. Construction is underwayo the open campus of the University of the West Indies and head office of the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training (TEST) along Narsaloo Ramaya Marg, before the Divali Nagar site and Price Plaza heading south.

A

Chaguanas. Mayor Gopaul Boodhan said the facility is being created by retrofitting an old sugar warehouse that has been abandoned for more than two decades. Boodhan said the new facility would be managed by the National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation and would provide spaces for around 150 farmers to sell their goods wholesale.. Boodhan said access to the area is made possible by five roads that connect to the site. The facility has parking for more than 200 vehicles.

The changes slowly coming to Chaguanas are part of a greater plan. Chaguanas is one of the 4 Cs cited as growth poles, the other three being Couva, Carapichaima and Charlieville, identified in the Government's Medium-Term Policy Framework 2011-2014 for concentrated economic development. In keeping with that mandate, the Chaguanas Borough Corporation in July 2014 hosted a public consultation at the Chaguanas Town Hall on elevating the area from a borough to T&T's third city.

Dr Bhoe Tewarie, Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development, speaking at the consultation, said the “city of Chaguanas” would become a place of creativity and innovation, a city which would focus on the development of people, an education city, a green city, a city of economic prosperity and sustainable growth, a city where culture would thrive, and a social city where people would In May 2014, Fazal Karim, Minister of Tertiary be happy and connected to each other and to Education, announced that a $168 million the rest of the world. facility to house the campus of the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Also attending that consultation were members Trinidad and Tobago (COSTAATT) will be of the Economic Development Board (EDB). constructed at Connector Road, Chaguanas. Subsequent to a consultation on the The first day of 2014 started with Karim development of the Central Growth Pole, officially opening the new On the Job Training which was hosted in January of this year by (OJT) Programme headquarters at Pierre the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Connector Road, Chaguanas. The changing Development through its EDB, the Chaguanas look of Chaguanas is with purpose and design. Borough to City Steering Committee was Commercially, the main road is bursting at its established to identify, oversee and accelerate seams. There's been an effort to limit vending initiatives to realise city status. Other members of items ranging from underwear to jewelry of the panel, chaired by Zamanath Ali, a on the main road. In June 2014, Cabinet member of the EDB, were Stephen Cadiz, approved $20 million for the upgrade of the Minister of Transport; Fazal Karim, Minister Chaguanas market. In addition, a new Farmers of Science, Technology and Tertiary Market was opened at Woodford Lodge in Education; Minister of Works and

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

Infrastructure, Dr Surujrattan Rambachan; Mayor Boodhan; President of the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Richie Sookhai; Dr Rikhi Permanand, executive director of the EDB, and David Gunn, acting president of e-TecK. Members of the public were informed of plans for remedial road works to alleviate the horrendous traffic problem residents face daily, to relocate vendors from the main road and to convert prime space in the heart of Chaguanas into a green park for all to enjoy. They were informed of the repurposing of the library which is currently under construction, to a Chaguanas court which will deal with the large backlog of court matters to be tried in the central region.

Residents were assured that plans are in place to design a new library to be built in a more suitable area.

Residents learnt of new economic zones created by e-TecK which would allow entrepreneurs and business people to start up new businesses, expand current businesses and spur economic growth. Participants who were concerned about receiving more in-depth information concerning plans for Chaguanas were reassured this was just the first of a series of consultations which would be held at various locations in the central growth pole and which would allow for greater interaction between stakeholders and members of the Chaguanas Borough to City Steering Committee.

A major project announced in January 2014 is a $900 million rehabilitation of Centre City Mall by developers George Aboud and Sons Ltd. Anthony Fifi, a land developer and consultant with George Aboud and Sons, unveiled the project during a Planning Ministry consultation, Strategy for the 4Cs Growth Pole, at the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce conference hall in Camden, in January. Fifi said GASL plans to develop the existing Centre City Mall “to about ten times its size,” covering 17 acres of land stretching from Mulchan Seuchan Road to east of the Uriah Butler Highway. “GASL has already invested $350 million in land acquisition. The project is fully designed and quite ready to go,” Fifi had said.

18

Feature

The Thriving East-West Corridor

By Nazma Muller maxi ride along the Eastern Main Road is all you need to get an idea of how big the boom in business has been along the East-West Corridor. From Barataria and the Croisee in San Juan (where TruValu chose to open its most recent branch a few years ago) to Arima, the transport hub for the north and east coasts, literally hundreds of small, medium and big businesses have opened over the last decade.

A

is a scene of chaos and noise, as hundreds of teenagers, courting couples, and moms with kids jump out of maxis and descend on the dozens of taxis and private cars hustling to cash in on the lucrative short route from the Priority Bus Route to Trincity Mall. Stories abound of taxi drivers who have been able, in less than a year, to buy another car – so profitable is the $3 route.

This traffic nightmare worsens around Christmas time, when the mall becomes the light in the east to which everyone – from Toco to ‘Town’ – is apparently drawn. Thirty years ago, when Trincity Mall opened its doors, not even Lawrence Duprey, then head of CL Financial, the conglomerate that owned Home Construction Limited, which owned the mall, could have dreamed of how much it would change the fortunes of the east-west KFC alone has 15 branches along the East- corridor.

West Corridor – in Barataria, Morvant, San Juan, Curepe, Tunapuna, Trincity Mall (two), Or perhaps he did. Trincity Mall is, as HCL’s UWI (University of the West Indies’ campus website confirms, the anchor for the HCL in St. Augustine), Valpark, Piarco Airport, Group’s ‘Trincity Millennium Vision’. It is Arouca, Broadway (Arima) and Sangre the centerpiece of its blueprint for community Grande, with another at the Oropune gas living – surrounded by residential property, station and St. Helena Junction. Among its with a range of recreational, commercial and competitors are Subway, Burger King, educational facilities.

Wendy’s (which, desperate for a spot on the Eastern Main Road, opened a small branch The Trincity Millennium Vision is based on with a drive-through in the Unipet gas station a plan and design for five main areas – a golf in Tacarigua), and countless Chinese community (East Gate On the Greens at restaurants and roti shops.

Millennium Lakes); a trade zone, a town centre (with the mall as the focal point; a On the topic of roti shops, Patraj, the first and hotel; a business district; and other commercial most famous of all - started in a small side outlets); educational (schools plus recreation street in San Juan. Today, it must face rivals grounds); existing residential areas such as for the ever-reliable roti dollar. Hosein’s on Millennium Park and Sunrise Park; and an the Eastern Main Road in Tunapuna has been institutional zone, which was to have included the major contender in the east for a long time, a health centre, though this has not yet but Hot Sauce Roti Shop, on the main road in materialised.

Tacarigua and Wings in Pasea have been quietly making names for themselves as In the last decade, the mall has become the worthwhile rivals. The lines at lunch-time – largest and most popular shopping centre in and for Eid and Divali – at these three roti the country. Five years ago, the traffic count shops are testimony to the brisk business that was estimated at 100,000 shoppers a week. they do, and the potential for expansion. By now it seems that number has doubled.

On any given Saturday afternoon, Cane Farm Tru Valu supermarket alone, which was Junction on the Priority Bus Route in Tacarigua expanded to 65,000 square feet, making it Almost all the buildings along the main road in the traditionally populated town centres of Curepe, Tunapuna and El Dorado have been bought or sold to a commercial entity. Banks, telecom companies and State entities jostle for space with fast food outlets, supermarkets, bars, and stores selling shoes, clothing, books, household goods, electronics and appliances.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

the largest supermarket in the country, attracts thousands of shoppers a week, and the mall’s location - on the Churchill Roosevelt Highway, close to Piarco International Airport – also makes it easy to access, and its huge parking lot gives it a major advantage over other malls and plazas.

Millennium Lakes Golf & Country Club has also added to the attraction of living in Trincity. The 18-hole championship golf course, which meanders along the Arouca river, and contains lakes and ponds with dozens of birds and caimans, stays open until 10 p.m., is one of the key components in the luxury zone of the HCL plan. East Gate on the Greens is the only high-rise condos of its kind in the East and gated community has a pool, club house, and of course access to the golf course.

As a result, property prices in and around Trincity Mall have skyrocketed. It is almost impossible to find a house for sale in Trincity for less than TT $1 million today. While home-owners may be happy with the rise in value of their properties, the downside of this desirability to be near the hub of shopping is the demand for ever-dwindling green space.

The construction of a five-storey building by retail giant Bhagwansingh’s Hardware across from the mall was stopped on the orders of the Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporation after residents, concerned about the granting of permission to build on the riverbank; the potential for flooding; and the effect of piledriving on the foundations of their homes.

East Gate on the Greens condos have tripled in value from a ceiling of $2.1m in 2004, to as much as $4.7m today. Meanwhile, the ripples of prosperity are spreading along the entire East-West Corridor, with real estate prices trending ever-upwards. In El Dorado, another HCL development, La Courisoupita, comprising 53 family homes, came on the market in 2004. Back then the single-family units were priced between $310,000 and $620,000. Today, they are worth between $1.2 and $1.5 million.

20

Feature

Urban Passenger Distribution Preliminary Planning

By Rae J. Furlonge

ransit, or mass transport is public transportation for the carriage of passengers and their incidental baggage, operating on established routes and fixed schedules, and serving prescribed stops at prescribed rates of fare.

Para-transit encompasses diverse forms of public transportation that fill the niche between private transportation and transit, e.g. maxitaxis, taxis, PH, rental cars, dial-a-ride, private school vans, etc. Only the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) operates on fixed schedules, serving prescribed stops. The preferred term for public transport in this paper is passenger distribution, as the former term has a very negative connotation in this country.

T

Public transportation offers a choice between modes of travel, including (a) as a form of mobility insurance – it can be available when other forms of transport are not; (b) during unusual occurrences – when other persons using the car; or the automobile is being repaired; (c) for emergency evacuation; (d) for recreation travel – a novelty of the system; (e) giving youth, the elderly, and disabled freedom of movement – for health care, and other access; and (f) being the only form of transport that could be made available to all citizens.

Para-transit provides at least 95% of the service to riders in TnT, meaning that the vast majority of captive public transportation users are subjected to unscheduled, unpredictable service because they have no choice. It is therefore not surprising that the aspiration of every individual is his own auto. Up until 1996, 60 percent of workers in Trinidad travelled by public transit (bus, maxi-taxi, taxi, PH).

According to the 2006 Comprehensive National Transportation study, in the East West Corridor between POS and Arima, where

slightly less than 40 percent of the workforce reside, only about 40 percent of all peak hour travellers currently use public transit, aided

by Government policy which continues to favour private car ownership. For the rest of the country, just about 30 percent of all peak hour travellers currently use public transit.

key stakeholders, including users and operators. Next, there would be various categories of transit operations, such as higher speed inter-urban road-based types, and lower speed intra-urban road-based types. And lastly, there would be need to coordinate the various modes, including the Government-owned modes and the various types of privatelyowned modes. The planning and forecasting of the transit activities will determine, which other modes, if any, will be required, and when.

Transportation users are traditionally considered to be primarily motorists (including drivers, passengers and businesses that rely on commercial deliveries). Non-motorists are categorized as a relatively small and unimportant minority, and defined as members Why is there delay in creating a National of households that do not own an automobile. Transit Authority? The transit authority would undertake management of the public transport These non-motorists are the voiceless who industry. Most people still mistakenly believe have no influence on decision-makers and that public transport is the responsibility of policy-shapers. The voiceless, car-less, transit- the PTSC. Government intervention is captive nationals of TnT have never demanded therefore critical, and if managed effectively, rapid rail or any exotic transport. They are can be a political strongpoint of an into the basics, including (a) minimizing their Administration. limited disposable income on travel, (b) frequent, reliable with published schedules, According to the Public Transport Service (c) availability for all classes of user-disability, Act, Chapter 48:02, the PTSC is mandated to (d) being effective and serving a wide range (a) Carry on a business; (b) Operate public of travel origins and destinations, (e) being service vehicles; (c) Ensure the provision of responsive to changing travel needs and a safe, adequate, economic and efficient public patterns of activity, (f) being secure, providing transportation system, adapted to the needs a travel experience that is not blighted by fear of the country; (d) Carry persons in vehicles of assault, attack or other anti-social behaviour authorised to carry six or more passengers; (e) Directly carry, store and consign goods throughout the journey. on behalf of other persons from any place in According to the Worldwatch Institute, 2012, Trinidad and Tobago to any other place Moving Toward Sustainable Prosperity, we therein; (f) Provide such amenities and have no choice in sustainable development facilities for passengers and other persons but to eventually seriously consider the making use of the services provided by it as development of preferential treatment for appears to it requisite or expedient to provide; transit. Everything else will be peripheral or (g) Construct, manufacture, purchase, maintain irrelevant. It must start with the introduction and repair anything required for the purpose of a transit authority or transit commission to of any of its activities; (h) Conduct studies represent (1) the planning, development and with respect to improving its service; (i) monitoring of transit, and (2) the needs of the Authorise any person to operate public service

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

Feature vehicles of any special class or description upon such terms and conditions, including payment of any such fee thereof as may be prescribed, in any area or district where the Corporation on economic or any other grounds does not consider it suitable or expedient to operate its own service.

and in the exercise of its functions shall collaborate with an Advisory Committee, Police Traffic Branch, the Transport Board, the Highways Division, the PTSC, and the Ministry of Legal Affairs. The Advisory Committee is to be appointed by the Minister and “shall consist of not more than seven persons who by their qualifications or Therefore, PTSC is simply a Government- experience, or both, are competent to assist owned bus company, and it has not been the [Licensing] Authority in carrying out its utilising all its opportunities. There is a need functions.” for PTSC to maximise its services based on its existing powers in order to enhance its It therefore seems that the responsibility of business activities. the Licensing Authority to implement and regulate the maxi taxi transit system means According to the Maxi Taxi Act, Chapter that they are to manage a well-organized maxi 48:53, a maxi taxi is a public service vehicle taxi transit system that delivers high quality with seating accommodation for not less than passenger transport services in a safe, costnine nor more than twenty-five passengers, effective and environmentally sound manner. and the administering authority for maxi- They have to provide proper schedules, taxis is the Licensing Authority. The location of stops, amenities at terminals, and Licensing Authority is responsible “for information on routes and schedules, as part implementing and regulating the system,” of this role. Everyone knows that this is not

done, and perhaps has never been done.

Clearly, the administrator of maxi taxis and taxis has confined itself to vehicle and driver permits, with very little concern for users of the system as transit patrons.

Trinidad and Tobago will never be able to solve its transportation problems and traffic delays without properly addressing passenger distribution. And, it cannot be effectively developed and managed without a wellplanned transit authority.

Perhaps the time has come for the PTSC to focus on routes and services that have (1) very high volumes of patrons and that require very high capacity, and (2) very low volumes of patrons, and thus would be unattractive to taxis and maxi taxis. And, the PTSC would then contract and manage the maxi-taxis for the other services. These issues would be part of the assessment of the staff of the Transit Authority.

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

21

22

Feature

Disaster preparedness Are we prepared?

Carianne Johnson, Member of the Trinidad and Tobago Society of Planners

s a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), Trinidad and Tobago has distinct physical and demographic characteristics that contribute to its vulnerability to natural disasters. Of particular concern is the high concentration of population, infrastructure and industry within the coastal zone. In terms, of natural disaster preparedness, the key area of vulnerability in the coastal zone is flooding as a result of severe storm surges and prolonged rainfall. Added to this are threats of flooding in areas of increasing development and inadequate storm water management systems. The potential threat of earthquakes, industrial accidents and even biological hazards, while less likely, should also be considered and planned for.

A

It is therefore imperative that our nation becomes more diligent in addressing our state of disaster preparedness. The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) has a wealth of information regarding preparation for disasters. They are the custodians of maps and other data regarding vulnerable areas, and their emergency management staff is trained to formulate and implement emergency procedures. The ODPM has also been responsible for the establishment of shelters, mostly public schools, equipped with supplies for the citizenry and signage outlining evacuation routes. While these measures are certainly a step in the right direction, there is serious doubt as to whether we are sufficiently prepared to cope with the effects of a disaster.

The true test of preparedness occurs when disaster strikes and the recent spate of flooding in the North West was a legitimate test of our capacity to address a natural disaster. There are many accounts of the events, but it is evident that the existing response to disasters

is insufficient. Noteworthy is the inherent delays in emergency, response as our road network does not lend itself to easy maneuverability due to restricted entrance and exit points, especially where settlements have sprung upon along a road corridor. The preference for cul-de-sacs and dead ends in our neighbourhoods may provide privacy, but in times of disaster it is difficult for emergency responders to access residents in need.

Re-examination of our settlement patterns is needed to ensure that communities are not cut off from relief and supplies post disaster.

response by reducing the incidences and severity of flooding.

These issues highlight the need for collaboration amongst the various government agencies, local government representatives and community stakeholders in the discussion and management of disaster preparedness, as a multi-sectorial approach is required. Disaster preparedness should not be the sole responsibility of the ODPM. The citizenry also has to shoulder some responsibility for their safety. However, it has been seen that persons often do not take the initiative in Our nation’s largest settlements are in coastal protecting their welfare. or low-lying areas. These areas are prime for development but in terms of storm The ODPM regularly sends out information, management, these areas are also vulnerable advisories and updates via its social media danger zones. Most homes in these coastal sites of Facebook and Twitter but fewer than or low-lying areas are built at ground level 30,000 people subscribe to the pages. Signage increasing the chances of becoming inundated on the road, particularly those that are not with water. But the citizenry is unaware of applicable to daily driving routines are the variety of housing options available to typically ignored. In terms of disaster them to decrease the impacts of flooding on preparedness, there is little or no interest until their property and loss of lives. there is a disaster that impacts the individual either directly or indirectly. People are less Increased development also increases the inclined to develop a plan for their household strain on the flood management infrastructure. unless a very severe event is imminent.

New developments tend to utilize the existing drainage system without extensive analysis Steps have been made in the right direction, of the capacity of the system. Based on the but our nation is not fully prepared for a rate of development, drains that were natural disaster. A deeper sense of awareness constructed for projected periods of time for personal safety must be encouraged among become obsolete in a few years. Flood plains, our citizenry. More importantly development wetlands and swamps serve as catchments must be properly regulated, domestic waste for water during rainfall and are prone to practices must be improved to prevent flooding. When a community is built in the clogging of watercourses. Continued any of the aforementioned areas, the likelihood collaboration among response agencies of instances of disaster damage increases. accompanied by regular intra and inter agency Developers must be mandated to capture and exercises is also critical for the success of store water before it is released into our disaster preparedness in Trinidad and Tobago. waterways and the restoration of key Methods for developing resilience towards environments will reduce the need for flood future events must be put in place.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

24

Feature

Tobago’s Growing Pains ust like Trinidad, Tobago has growing pains and nowhere does it hurt more than in the south side of the tiny island.

From Scarborough to Crown Point there is ever-increasing pressure for roads, housing, and buildings for enterprise. Also, there has been a corresponding jump to build the infrastructure which would facilitate such progress: drains, bridges and and modifications to the water and power supplies. Consequently, with all these works going on, the allure of a peaceful holiday is being sorely tested, at least for people with time and inclination to support the sister-isle.

J

What is less; apparent is the impact of all that development on the Tobago resident, many of whom do not voice concerns about the inconvenience. Some no doubt are hoping there will be tangible benefits forthcoming, others perhaps worry that by highlighting the inefficiencies of the process, they will open themselves to victimisation. In the end though, whatever explanations are eventually given by the authorities for the drop in quality of life in Tobago south, poor urban planning will no doubt emerge as a major factor for the untenable situation developing Crown Point and environs.

At present, Crown Point to Canaan is evolving as Tobago's busiest recreational and entrepreneurial zone. People wishing to get to Buccoo Reef, hang in Pigeon Point or just wishing to place bets in any of the area's casinos must all traverse the narrow Milford Road.

Tobago's sole airport, through which passes most of the holiday and business traffic, also contributes to the melee. The resultant hustle and bustle is now a far cry from the ‘Clean Green Safe and Serene’ ambience the THA's Division of Tourism once sold. Further, the perpetual failure of both the air and sea bridges to serve the general population also emphasises the huge discrepancy between Tobago's needs and its developmental strategy. The most probable outcome is that Tobago's tourism, its main economic driver will go on to lose market share for the preferred type of visitor, that is, people seeking peace, quiet, rural charm and a pristine environment.

There is perhaps a lesson to be learnt from other tourism-foucssed destinations in the region. In Jamaica for example the town of Kingston was once a veritable goldmine for the Jamaican economy but its urban spread was left to grow unplanned. As every traveller now knows, Kingston, aside from its rich history, has achieved notoriety as a crimeridden town deserving a wide berth. If however circumstances necessitates a visit there, certain rules must be followed. Key among those; visitors should stay in at night and always go out in large groups.

By Bertrand Bhikarry, Tobago Division

communities may look attractive at first, but they usually foster a sense of resentment among the area's lower income earners, who usually find they cannot access the spin-off wealth such developments promise. There are also the simpler initiatives that provide creature comfort, such as adequate lighting, smart orientation around landmarks and keeping key use zones open to all. Development-wise, Tobago may think it faces an unsurmountable problem in its south side, but there are many examples of restored cities. Barcelona in Spain, Savannah in Georgia and San Jose, California all sought - and applied, synergies between the needs of There is a growing awareness globally that the people and the demands of urbanism. And with the pressures of expanding population, perhaps that is where clever interlinking of such as Tobago faces, issues such as crime Tobago's political history, its natural “are not simply appendices in sustainability environment and the society's needs come into decisions, but necessary components in play. designing truly sustainable communities”, according to the experts at Northumbria Tobago's infrastructural engineers should plan University. “Crime prevention must now be all south-side development around the Buccoo a part of the foundation of sustainable Reef, which in every sense attracted, and still community development”. This view is does, its visitor crowd and therefore its bread mirrored in many aspects by Jacqueline and butter. In order to leave it pristine – which Douglas Brown, lecturer in the faculty of built is part of the THA's promise, waste water Development at Jamaica's University of entering its catchment, must be of a quality that Technology. does not detract from its functions. This means special care must be paid to sewerage, housing, Ms Douglas Brown gives advice that Tobago, or domestic runoff and industrial waste. Now would do well to heed. She advocates the none of the above is impossible, but it certainly creation of public spaces that reinforces the will be made harder if the public itself is perception of safety. Looking around the world unwilling to co-operate. she references the communities that benefit from planned urbanism but she also shows As working partnership of the public sectorthe ones that do not. For us in Trinidad and that is the THA's Works Division, its Tourism Tobago looking on, the results are obvious. and Transportation Division and its Planning Switzerland and Canada are two examples of Unit would do well to create legal accords with different societies managing devlopment, while the community through the various nonBrazil and Jamaica – closer to home, are not. governmental organisations and other civil Essentially, the collective wisdom from the society bodies. The THA should also include experts in sustainable development, of which the private sector through the T&T Chamber urban planning plays a large part, suggests of Industry and Commerce, Hospitality groups Tobago take control of what occurs between and the active service providers to tourism in Scarborough to Crown Point. If it does not, the island. Arguably, it is only by encouraging the price to pay is crime and lost communities. and then developing a comprehensive workplan that has buy-in from all its stakeholders will The path to follow seems simple enough. south Tobago escape the pangs of growing Caution must be taken at the planning level pains already suffered by many other that enclaves aren't encouraged. Gated communities who took that path.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

26

Feature

Green Buildings - a major step to a more sustainable T&T

By Roger A. Salloum, FMP, LEED, GA

he primary objective of a Green building is to minimize the impact it has on the natural environment and social landscape. Additionally, they are considered to be smart buildings, “businesses” in themselves that control their operating costs through focused attention on reduced energy and water consumption, enhanced equipment efficiency, consistent routine maintenance, and more flexible building and human resource management.

They generate less waste, use fewer natural resources, and by having suitable levels of fresh-air and thermal comfort provide for a healthier and more productive indoor environment.

and Clients are now demanding their buildings, operating and maintenance practices and work spaces incorporate green and sustainable components. So Green Buildings are not by any means a trend, but more so moving progressively towards the status quo. The greatest influence having been climate change and the need to reduce CO2 emissions created by buildings.

Buildings are typically known to contribute more than 40% of carbon emissions primarily due to electrical consumption. As a result, carbon dioxide emissions regulations have been introduced in some countries forcing building owners to conserve by linking their electrical rates with their carbon footprint.

The other key driver is the economic one.

In a 2013 Survey, McGraw Hill Construction Green Buildings mean improving operating in association with United Technologies, the efficiency and productivity.

United States Green Building Council (USGBC), and the World Green Building So what is the private and public sector’s Council (WGBC) states: “The results are position of green buildings in Trinidad and clear – Green Buildings are growing across Tobago? Over the past decade, we had to the globe. Fifty-one percent of the architects, first understand that proper maintenance was e n g i n e e r s , c o n t r a c t o r s , b u i l d i n g necessary to extend the life-cycle of our owners/landlords and consultants surveyed buildings and its systems. This in part, is the (in 62 different countries) anticipate that more first step towards incorporating green than 60% of their work will be green by 2015. practices. We applied for too long a “don’t The most notable part is that this not a trend fix it, till it’s broke” mentality. Through the localized to one part of the world (i.e. the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber’s Facilities developed countries).” Between 2012 and Management (FM) Committee, Conference 2015, the Green Building industry is expected and Expo, the local Chapter of the to more than triple in South Africa, double International Facilities Management in Germany, Norway, Brazil, U.S., Singapore, Association (TTIFMA), and the Trinidad and the U.K., and the United Arab Emirates and Tobago Green Building Council (TTGBC) Australia. we were able to make significant strides in creating greater public awareness and Globally, going Green has transitioned from standards in building management and “Doing the Right Thing,” to where the market design. The value associated with properly

T

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

maintained and managed buildings are now better understood and accepted. Consequently, the need for properly trained facility managers or outsourcing FM service providers in the local market has now become the norm, and the industry is on the rise.

The next step is understanding and embracing green designs, technologies, systems and maintenance practices into the scheme of things. The TTGBC has been the key player in educating, advocating and promoting Green and Sustainable Development in Trinidad and Tobago. However, one of the main barriers of Green Buildings still remain the perception that it will add greater costs. And whilst there may be some additional costs from the inception of construction or a retrofit, the cost benefits far exceed the initial investment over the mid to long term. We are already seeing in the U.S., Canada, and in the U.K. where the building’s value may be negatively affected because it is not a low energy model, particularly as energy costs continue to rise.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has documented that the environment is an essential pillar of economic and social development, and that environmental sustainability is a key objective of economic development and planning. They have tried to incentivize their policy through tax and related incentives, however this may have been done prematurely, as the incentives have been neutralized by contradicting policy or legislation. So improved or new legislation is required which is currently in the making.

Hopefully sooner than later.

Feature The truth of the matter is that the subsidized energy costs have made us complacent, and at the same time wasteful and irresponsible.

Our concerns ought to be on how much reserves we have left, and what measures need to be in place to ensure best practices in conserving the use of energy, rather than what our electrical costs are at the moment. Trinidad and Tobago pays less than 20% of what other comparable territories within the region pay.

• We need to drive public awareness • We need to build domestic expertise • There need to be greater incentives for going green • There need to be aggressive duty and tax exemptions • National professional development programmes • We should consider penalties for not building green • Both the Government and large Private Yes, the Government has an integral role to Sector organizations need to be at the play, but the larger organizations in the private forefront sector have an equally vital role. It is the private sector (their executives, shareholders and customers) that took the lead in moving the industry forward in the developed countries. They identified the benefits of integrating sustainability and long-term planning into their operations. Over the years, we have always focused on initial costs rather than long-term benefits. One may argue this mind-set is the cause for many of the challenges we face today.

Thankfully we are seeing a change in the mind-set from both the private and public sectors. There are green design elements and related systems incorporated in some of the new developments, renovations and restorations around the country. This demonstrates that the private sector is acknowledging the benefits associated with the green model.

Of course, other than buildings there are many other factors that need to come into play to ensure the country adopts a more sustainable approach to development. For starters, we are already aware of the Government’s intention to introduce the long awaited and much needed “Beverage Container Bill,” a proper waste management plan together with a recycling facility, and we are also hoping for the adoption of legislation to incentivize the use of systems and technology that would encourage consumers to conserve the use of electricity.

We are seeing the increasing use of photo voltaic cells (solar panel technology), but again the proper regulatory environment is lacking.

So what is the way forward towards a more sustainable T&T? Consider the following:

• There need to be an integrative approach to policy development and execution The bottom line is there is a lot to be done, and every citizen in every organization has an integral role to play. We need to recognize and prioritize sustainability as an essential part of our personal and professional lives.

Transforming the built environment into Green Buildings (residential and commercial) is an excellent first step.

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

27

28

Feature

Woodford Square and Environs: an International Heritage District

By Citizens for Conservation Trinidad and Tobago

built in 1917. It was opened by Dr. E. Prada, the then Mayor of Port of Spain.

oodford Square, named after Sir Ralph Woodford who took up office as Governor of Trinidad in 1813, was originally part of the fishing village called Conquerabia. The St. Ann’s river flowed through this space, which was built in 1787 when the river was diverted to what is now known as he East Dry River.

W

NJAC (National Joint Action Committee) referred to the square as the People’s Parliament.

The Fountain

The native Indians, who fought, many bloody battles on that site, first called the Square, the “Place of Souls”. French settlers referred to it as “Place Des Ames” and the Germans in 1797 renamed it Brunswick Square. At this The Bandstand time, the Square was used as a parade ground The Square was renamed Woodford Square for soldiers. after Sir Ralph Woodford in honour of his There was a fire in 1808 that destroyed many contribution to the development of the city buildings in Port of Spain. Sir Ralph Woodford of Port of Spain. The square has been the started rebuilding the town and the square in stage for many famous performers, notably, 1813, when he arrived in Trinidad. In 1866, Paul Robeson (1948), and Marlon Anderson the fountain that is at the centre of the square (1960) both famous black American singers, was given as a gift from George Turnbull of and Winnifred Atwell, the famous Trinidadian pianist.

Glasgow, Scotland.

The railing around the square that is present to this day was erected in 1892 and the bandstand, which is the focus of many political discourses and entertainment activities, was

He lectured in the square from 1956, about leadership and governance. It became a popular place for protests, political demonstrations and marches. In 1903, people protested against increased water rates while council met and deliberated in the Red House.

The square also became known as the University of Woodford Square, so called

by Dr. Eric Williams, who became the first Prime Minister of our independent nation.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

Woodford square is nestled in the middle of a number of historically significant buildings, dating back to the 19th Century. Part 11 of this article will expand on the history of these structures, such as, the Trinity Cathedral, the Old Fire Station, the Red House, the old Public Library and Greyfriars Church. Some of these buildings are currently being restored and proposed for adaptive reuse.

The old fire station has been incorporated into NALIS and is used for hosting functions, such as Bocas Lit Fest, which annually celebrates books, writing and writers. The old public library would be converted into a museum for displaying the memorabilia of past Prime Ministers and Presidents.

Greyfriars Church would be an ideal location for the arts, featuring spoken word, musical performances and videos of past and current cultural figures.

These activities will justify the declaring of the area as a Heritage District that would be preserved for the enjoyment and education of all for generations to come. Woodford Square will become one of the key elements of the revitalization of the city of Port of Spain.

Communications Committee The Communications Committee is a Boardappointed Committee of the Chamber, chaired by the sitting President. Its role is to conceptualise and execute the Chamber’s communications strategy as guided by the Board of Directors. As such the committee oversees the publication of CONTACT magazine, three weekly newspaper columns, a weekly radio programme, media releases and other electronic newsletters and bulletins.

Each CONTACT magazine is thematic so that two thirds of the articles explore the issues related to the particular theme. The magazine is distributed free of charge to Chamber members. Complimentary copies are given to Members of Parliament, diplomatic missions, hotels and subscribers to the

Guardian newspaper. CONTACT may be read online at www.contact-tt.com.

The weekly “CONTACT with the Chamber” radio programme airs on I95.5 FM at 7:25 a.m. each Tuesday. It represents a Chamber editorial and is voiced by the Chamber’s Chief Executive Officer, Catherine Kumar.

Programmes are available on the Chamber’s website www.chamber.org.tt and Facebook.

The main issues that form the basis of the Chamber’s lobbies are largely reflected in the newspaper columns. Since 2004, the Chamber has maintained three weekly newspaper columns - Wednesdays in the Business Express and Thursdays in both the Guardian Business and the Newsdays Business Day. Writing on the premise that all issues which affect the

national landscape also affect business, the columns serve to express Chamber opinion and policy. Topics for articles have included the economy, trade, crime, education, agriculture, health, the environment and culture. The committee encourages Chamber members to submit columns or ideas for columns on topics of interest. Columns may be between 700-900 words in length and the Chamber reserves the right to publish, subject to review by the Committee. The weekly columns may be accessed on the Chamber’s website at www.chamber.org.tt.

For further information on this committee kindly contact Halima Khan, Communications Officer, Marketing and Communications, at 637-6966 x 227 or email hkhan@chamber.org.tt.

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

30

Finance & Economy

Economic and Financial Statistics Domestic Indicators Most Problematic Factors in Doing Business - Trinidad and Tobago 2013-2014

2014-2015

19.7 17.3 15.4 15.9 4.2 1.6 7 2.3 2.5 0.7 2.8 1 1.1 1 0.4 7.1

15.5 19.2 17.9 18.4 4.1 0.9 6.8 1.5 1.6 2.8 2.7 0.8 1.6 0.2 0.5 5.2

Crime and theft Inefficient government bureaucracy Poor work ethic in national labor force Corruption Inadequate supply of infrastructure Inflation Access to financing Inadequately educated workforce Policy instability Foreign currency regulations Restrictive labor regulations Poor public health Tax rates Tax regulations Government instability/coups Insufficient capacity to innovate

Source: Global Competitiveness Index

Global Competitiveness Index 2014-2015 Competitiveness Pillars - Trinidad and Tobago Rank (148) GCI 2014–2015 GCI 2013–2014 (out of 148) GCI 2012–2013 (out of 144) Basic requirements (20.0%) Institutions Infrastructure Macroeconomic environment Health and primary education Efficiency enhancers (50.0%) Higher education and training Goods market efficiency Labor market efficiency Financial market development Technological readiness Market size Innovation and sophistication factors (30.0%) Business sophistication Innovation

Score (1-7) 89 92 84 52 95 52 38 59 81 77 101 96 52 64 112 88 69 100

4 3.9 4 4.8 3.5 4.5 5.4 5.9 3.9 4.2 4.1 4 4.3 4 2.9 3.5 3.9 3

Source: The Global Competitiveness Index

International Indicators Global Competitiveness Index 2014-2015 COUNTRY

RANK

SCORE

Switzerland

1

5.7

Singapore

2

5.65

United States

3

5.54

Finland

4

5.5

Germany

5

5.49

Japan

6

5.47

Hong Kong SAR

7

5.46

Netherlands

8

5.45

United Kingdom

9

5.41

Sweden

10

5.41

Source: The Global Competitiveness

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

32

Finance & Economy

Economic Outlook MONETARY POLICY Trinidad and Tobago The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago in its September 2014 meeting resolved to increase the Repo rate by 25 points to 3.00 per cent, effective immediately. This increase is now necessary to pre-empt a potential rise in inflationary pressures and to mitigate higher portfolio outflows. The change in the policy rate comes after the Central Bank adopted an accommodative monetary stance for the past four years. This accommodative monetary stance helped stimulate economic growth and encourage business and consumer lending. It included holding the Repo rate at an historical low of 2.75 per cent since September 2012.

Growth in the non-energy sector stood at 2.0% in the first quarter of 2014, with construction and agriculture growing by 3.2 and 2.1% respectively.

Source: Monetary Policy Announcement- September 26, 2014

Among the BRICS economies, China continues to record slower levels of economic activity with a year-on-year growth rate of 7.4% for the first quarter of 2014. For the same period, India registered a growth of 4.6% and Brazil stood at 1.9%.

In the Caribbean Region, the Barbados economy declined by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2014, while Jamaica grew by 1.6% on a year-on-year basis first quarter of 2014.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT Trinidad and Tobago Growth in the Trinidad and Tobago economy stagnated in the first quarter of 2014 following a 2.7% growth in the fourth quarter of 2013. Activity in the energy sector declined by 2.9% in the first quarter of 2014, compared to a 2.4% growth in the previous quarter.

International On a quarter-on-quarter basis the United States economy declined by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2014.

The United Kingdom grew by 0.8% on a quarter-on-quarter basis in the first quarter of 2014.

Growth in the Euro Area stood at 0.2%, while Japan grew by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2014.

Source: Summary of Economic Indicators, June 2014

The Chamber’s “CONTACT with the Chamber” radio series The Chamber's "CONTACT with the Chamber" radio series is a five minute programme which airs every Tuesday at 7:25 a.m. on the I95.5FM morning show. This programme is voiced by the CEO of the Chamber, Catherine Kumar and is one of the means by which the Chamber communicates with members and the public at large. The series focuses on business-oriented subjects, social responsibility and other issues affecting our country.

views on matters affecting our community.

They are: First Citizens for October, Pan American Life Insurance of T&T for November and JMH Enterprises Ltd. for December 2014.

We also open our doors to all members interested in coming on board as short-term sponsors of “CONTACT with the Chamber”, for packages of one, two or three months.

Sponsorship is at a cost of TT $900.00 per programme. Your organization will be The Chamber wishes to thank the most recent credited on I95.5FM and recognized through sponsors of its programme which has made it other communications produced by the possible for us to continue expressing our Chamber.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

For more information on sponsorship and branding opportunities please contact: Sherise Stewart, Membership Assistant, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Columbus Circle Westmoorings P.O Box 499 Port of Spain.

Tel: (868) 637-6966 Ext. 1251 Fax: (868) 637-7425 Email: sstewart@chamber.org.tt Website: www.chamber.org.tt

Finance & Economy

33

Nine Month 2014 Review Local Market Summary For the Nine Month period ended September 30, 2014 (NM14), all three Indices closed in the red on the local equity market. The Composite Index slid 3.37 per cent or 39.93 points to end the period under review at 1,145.12, the All Trinidad and Tobago Index registered a minimal 0.87 per cent decline or 17.42 points to close at 1,976.30 and the Cross Listed Index closed lower at 41.10, down 16.85 per cent or 8.33 points. In the Third Quarter (Q314) alone, the Composite Index, All Trinidad and Tobago Index and Cross Listed Index posted declines of 1.84 per cent, 1.82 per cent and 1.98 per cent respectively. Advances outnumbered declines by a ratio of 15 to 12 in NM14.

Trading activity for NM14 declined 7.77 per cent with 67,968,423 shares changing hands compared to 73,694,368 shares traded in the corresponding period in 2013. Q314 on Q313, volumes traded were down a substantial 45.58 per cent from 33,149,828 shares in Q313 to 18,041,250 shares in Q314. When compared to the previous quarter (Q214), market activity however rose 33.15 per cent from 13,549,385 shares. The value of shares traded fell 0.43 per cent from $830,822,776.88 in NM13 to $827,265,316.82 in NM14. Q314 on Q313, the value of shares traded was down 31.67 per cent

from $342,919,993.04 (Q313) to $234,320,804.69 (Q314). In NM14, the volume leader with 39.05 per cent of the market or 26,543,603 shares traded was National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ).

Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited (JMMB) was next with 8.90 per cent of the total volume traded or 6,049,176 shares. This was followed by Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), which accounted for 7.74 per cent of all trades or 5,258,339 shares changing ownership.

On the TTD Mutual Fund Market, a total of 9,683,774 CLICO Investment Fund (CIF) units traded in NM14 with a value of $212,481,806.03. CIF rose 0.09 per cent or $0.02 to close NM14 at $22.01. Additionally, 136,078 Praetorian Property Mutual Fund (PPMF) units traded with a total value of $465,945.00. PPMF’s price dropped 4.23 per cent or $0.15 to end at $3.40. L.J. Williams ‘B’ Limited (LJWB) was the major advance for NM14, up a significant 38.46 per cent or $0.25 to close the nine month period at $0.90.

The second major advance was National Flour Mills Limited (NFM) which registered a 37.89 per cent gain or $0.36 to $1.31. One Caribbean Media Limited (OCM) was next, with an increase of 36.92 per cent or $6.83 to end NM14 at $25.33.

For NM14, declines were led by Flavorite Foods Limited (FFL) which posted a 30.57 per cent drop or $2.51 to $5.70. Next was FirstCaribbean International Bank Limited (FCI), down 23.08 per cent or $1.50 to $5.00.

The third major decline was Scotiabank Trinidad and Tobago Limited (SBTT), which fell 17.34 per cent or $12.58 to $59.97.

Dividend Payments

Highlights for the Third Quarter of 2014 September 2014 • National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limied (NCB) announced that the Bank and its subsidiary, NCB Capital Markets Limited have reached an agreement that will result in the sale of their 32.59 percent interest in Kingston Wharves Limited (KW) to Seaboard Corporation (Seaboard) and Jamaica Producers Group Limited (JP). As a result of the transaction, Seaboard is acquiring 21 per cent of the outstanding KW Shares and JP is acquiring 11.59 percent of the outstanding KW Shares (thereby increasing its shareholding in KW to approximately 42 percent).

• The GraceKennedy Group announced the acquisition of an additional 50% of the shares in St. Lucian company, EC Global Insurance Company Limited (“EC Global”), bringing its shareholdings to 80%. The group first acquired its 30% shareholding in EC Global in 2004.

August 2014 • The Board of Directors of Trinidad Cement Limited advised that on Tuesday August 19, 2014, a Special (Compulsory) Meeting of Shareholders of the Company was held, at which over 80% of Shareholders were represented. Prior to the Special (Compulsory) Meeting of Shareholders, Mr. Andy Bhajan, Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

34

Finance & Economy

D. Rollin Bertrand, Mr. Brian Young, Dr. Leonard Nurse, Mr. Carlos Hee Houng and Mr. Bevon Francis, submitted their resignations as Directors of the Company. At the Special (Compulsory) Meeting of Shareholders, Mr. Wilfred Espinet, Ms. Alison Lewis, Mr. Christopher Dehring, Mr. Michael Glenn HamelSmith, Mr. Francisco Aguilera, Mr. Carlos Alberto Palero and Mr. Nigel Edwards were unanimously elected directors of the Company in accordance with Section 75 of the Companies Act (CH. 81:01) and Clause 4.6.4 of Bye-Law No. 1 of the Company, until the conclusion of the next Annual Meeting of the Company, at which time they will be eligible for re-election by the shareholders.

• On June 24, 2014, Trinidad Cement Limited (“TCL”) received a Requisition to call a Compulsory Meeting of Shareholders under Section 133 of the Companies Act, Chap. 81:01, from a group of Shareholders together holding an aggregate of 54.7% of the issued shares of TCL, for the purpose of removing six (6) Directors from the Board of Directors, and electing seven (7) other individuals to the Board.

By letter dated 14th July, 2014, Attorneys-atLaw for TCL wrote to the Requisitioning Shareholders informing them that the Requisition could not be entertained, because any attempts taken to implement the Meeting would expose the relevant parties to Contempt of Court. The detailed reasons for this position were outlined in the said letter.

• 4,455,000 FNCU Venture Capital Company Limited Shares (FNCU) were de-listed from the Stock Exchange effective Thursday August 14, 2014. The de-listing order was granted pursuant to an application for de-listing made by the Exchange. On July 28, 2014, the Board of Commissioners considered the application and approved the de-listing.

• Neal & Massy Holdings Limited (NML) informed the Stock Exchange (TTSE) that at a Special Shareholders’ Meeting held on Wednesday July 23, 2014, the Shareholders of NML passed a resolution to change the name of the company from “Neal & Massy Holdings Limited” to “Massy Holdings Ltd.”. The new company symbol will be MASSY. The name change on the TTSE took effect from Monday August 11, 2014.

raised US$20,000,000.00 through the issue and private placement of unsecured extendible notes denominated in United States Dollars.

The offer was only available to Jamaican residents. The private placement offer closed on July 18, 2014 and will mature on July 18, 2016. Noteholders have an option to either redeem their notes on the Maturity Date or extend the maturity of their notes to July 18, 2019. The interest rate on the original note is 6.75% fixed for two (2) years and 7.75% on the Extended Notes.

• GraceKennedy through its wholly owned subsidiary GraceKennedy Foods (USA) LLC entered into an agreement to purchase the operating assets and business of La Fe Foods Inc., including its brand. La Fe is the top Hispanic Brand in the frozen food category in Northeast USA. La Fe Foods Inc. which was established in 1968 currently has revenues of approximately US$80 million and the business being acquired will be the platform for the growth of GraceKennedy’s North American business going forward. The acquisition comes at a purchase price of US $26 million.

Fixed Income Market Summary As indicated in the September 2014 Monetary Policy Announcement released by the Central Bank of Trinidad & Tobago, headline inflation accelerated to 7.50 per cent as at August 2014 from 3.00 per cent in June 2014. According to the report, this increase was mainly due to a sharp rise in food prices.

In September 2014, the yield on the 3-month Open Market Operations (OMOs) saw a minimal increase to 0.15 per cent while the rates on the 6-month and 1-year issues remained at 0.25 per cent and 0.45 per cent respectively.

The Central Bank increased the Repo Rate, the rate at which it lends to commercial banks, by Energy Prices

Global Market Indices

July 2014 • Jamaica Money Market Brokers Limited informed the Stock Exchange that the company Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

25 basis points to 3.00 per cent after holding the rate at 2.75 per cent since September 2012.

Key Rates

Jamaica Market Summary For the nine month period, the Jamaican equity market closed in negative territory with the JSE Market Index slipping 10.41 per cent or 8,395.19 points to end NM14 at 72,238.36. A total of 1,848,948,582 shares traded in NM14 with a value of J$10,465,503,153.11. This represented an increase in trading activity of 91.70 per cent on the 964,504,767 shares traded in NM13 with a value of J$8,743,337,880.09. Comparing Q314 on Q313, market activity more than doubled from 316,174,070 shares traded in Q313 to 706,783,098 in Q314. When compared to the previous quarter, volumes traded rose 155.74 per cent from 276,371,217 shares in Q214.

LIME was the major advance in NM14, up 81.25 per cent or J$0.13 to end the period at J$0.29. This was followed by Ciboney Group Limited (CBNY), which posted a 40.00 per cent gain or J$0.02 to J$0.07. Next was National Commercial Bank Jamaica Limited (NCBJ), rising 9.46 per cent or J$1.55 to close at J$17.93.

The major decline was Pulse Investments (PULS), which fell 59.77 per cent or J$0.52 to J$0.35. The second major decline was Supreme Ventures Limited (SVL), down 34.89 per cent or J$0.97 to J$1.81. Following was Caribbean Cement Company Limited (CCC), registering a 31.43 per cent drop or J$1.10 to close the nine month period at J$2.40.

36

Energy Update

New oil exploration - or old oil exploitation?

By David Renwick, Energy Journalist HBM (Gold)

O

ne of the achievements of the present minister of energy and energy affairs, Kevin Christian Ramnarine, has been the continuous offerings of acreage for oil and gas exploration, in a way that was not matched by his counterparts in government prior to 2010. He has been able to attract companies to explore both on land and in the deep water offshore – the latter being a particularly notable breakthrough that had eluded earlier administrations.

The onshore block allocation was the result of the first dedicated land-based bid round in 15 years. 2D and 3D seismic will be acquired and 12 exploration holes sunk. In the deepwater (1,000-3,500 metres), a minimum of 31 exploration wells are involved, with a maximum possibility of 53.

That is an impressive amount of simultaneous exploration activity to be taking place over the next five to eight years and has probably been unmatched in the country's history.

Out of it, it is hoped, will come substantial discoveries of new oil, which only exploration can achieve.

Internationally known energy economist, Paul Tempest, who flew down from the UK in September 2014 to deliver the feature address at the launching of the late Trevor Boopsingh and Gregory McGuire's book, “From Oil To Gas And Beyond”, predicted - “without hesitation”, he said - “that the development of the Orinoco deep water gas resources off Trinidad can double the per capita income of these islands within 10 years, from the first confirmed discoveries and development, and will double it again within another 10 years, leading to prosperity on a scale unseen in the Caribbean – at least four times the present level with a production horizon of 50 years.”

It is interesting that Mr. Tempest singled out gas, rather than oil, though Anglo/Australian multi-national BHPBilliton, which is operator for all of the nine production sharing contracts (PSCs) signed for deep water exploration, would obviously prefer to find oil as would its partners on some of those blocks.

Mind you, Tempest has great faith in the future of gas which has a central role in his new book, titled “The Gathering Storm – The New Geo-Politics of Energy.”

like to say, has actually been brought to the surface. This has been achieved through normal reservoir pressure and pumping. But if the oil can't even get to the well bore, it can't even be pumped.

So the reservoirs require re-pressurisation through various processes such as waterflood, steam injection or carbon dioxide (CO2) injection. This has been done only in a limited number of cases because “secondary recovery” is more expensive than “primary recovery.”

“The book will say that the world's gas Such “enhanced oil recovery” (EOR) resources are absolutely immense,” he told initiatives are not only more costly but there me during his visit. “That includes shale gas, is no guarantee of success. of course, but also conventional gas resources that have been untapped so far. Russia in As Khalid Hassanali, president of the national particular is just packed-full of gas.” oil company, Petrotrin, has pointed out: “Design and implementation of an EOR Since Trinidad and Tobago has led the world project is bedevilled by uncertainty posed by in gas monetisation, Tempest is obviously geological complexity, that is, reservoir limits, expecting that to continue into the future, contiguity and so on.” which would be a major contributor to his expansive estimates of GDP growth, as well Good quality 3D seismic can “mitigate as any direct export of gas that might take reservoir definition risk,” he adds. Petrotrin place. acquired 322 sq km of such seismic on its land acreage in 2011, so it should have greater But everything about the above remains confidence going forward in the EOR projects complete speculation at this stage. No deep it intends to pursue. According to Mr. water discoveries may be made at all and any Hassanali: “Petrotrin's strategic plan calls for new oil identified on land is likely to be modest the implementation of new EOR projects in nature. By strong contrast, there already every 18 months and, in fact, work has just exist large amounts of what could be called commenced on two new ones in the Forest “old oil”, which is no secret to anybody in the Reserve field, targeting recovery of around 5 industry and which is awaiting retrieval by million barrels.” any company willing to spend the money to do so.

One or two of the private upstream companies, known as independents, are also Trinidad (Tobago has no hydrocarbons) has contemplating EOR projects, so much more yielded over 3.5 billion barrels of oil since attention is now being paid to recovering commercial production began in 1908. But in more of the 10.5 billion barrels or so of what that period total oil finds have amounted to we shall term “stranded oil.” The “old oil” in over 14 billion barrels. So only 25% of the question is of medium gravity but within that “original oil in place” (OOIP), as the oilmen figure of 10.5 billion barrels is a category

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

37

Energy Update known as “heavy oil”, defined by MEEA as that with a gravity of 18 degrees or less, meaning it can only occasionally flow on its own but mainly requires EOR methods to be produced at all.

upgrader, which could do hydrogenation of the fluid to make it a synthetic crude oil, which could be as high as 37.5 degrees API and gives you a higher-value product at the end of the process. Petrotrin could add the necessary equipment for this but the people Our esteemed geologist extraordinaire, Dr. backing me are prepared to build an upgrader.”

Krishna Persad, reckons that there are 4 billion barrels of heavy oil, the vast majority of Mr. Sukhu believes it is a shame to waste this which is yet to be brought to surface, category of “old oil”, especially in light of the principally because of cost (and, perhaps, the fact that its exploitation could, over time, add challenges it poses to Petrotrin's refinery at no fewer than 50,000 b/d to total crude oil Pointe-a-Pierre). output. In this, he is supported by fellow geologist, Tony Paul, who has himself done One billion barrels of heavy oil resides some work on the possibility of tar sands onshore, mainly in Petrotrin's acreage. Three recovery. billion is to be found offshore, in the Gulf of Paria, also under the state company's control. MEEA recognises that more attention should Only 10% of the heavy oil on land and in the be paid to the retrieval of “left-behind” Gulf has been produced so far, which means conventional crude as well as heavy oil, though around 3.6 billion barrels remains it has studiously ignored the possibilities in underground or under water. tar sands so far, much to Mr. Sukhu's frustration.

Besides conventional “left behind” oil and heavy oil, there is a third source of “stranded To that end, fiscal incentives were offered in oil” and that is tar sands, extremely heavy oil the 2010 budget – the first of the People's in the form of bitumen (think the Pitch Lake) Partnership (PP) government – for the locked up in sedimentary rock just below the development of small and mature oilfields by surface that can not be accessed by means of way of a 20% reduction on supplemental convetional drilling but by more of a quarrying petroleum tax (SPT) as well as an investment operation. tax credit of 20%. The latter was also available to those companies applying EOR methods MEEA itself estimates there could be about which would be particularly applicable to 300 million tonnes of recoverable btumen in wells or fields where current production is such areas as Parrylands, Guapo and Vessigny virtually zero – a direct move on left-behind in the south Trinidad basin. oil.

Geologist Herbert (Billy) Sukhu has been the chief cheerleader for tar sands recovery for many years and has been striving to persuade MEEA to sign off on a project that has Canadian backing (Canada in itself a major producer of oil from tar sands).

For “small” oil discoveries not yet brought on production, presumably because the economics of doing so were unfavourable, a special SPT rate of 25% was offered in the 2012 budget.

Workovers, which have the effect of cleaning He insists that these days, tar sands activity out wells and thus enhancing production, as is much more environmentally friendly than well as sidetracking into a new zone if the it used to be. one a company is in has dried up, were also encouraged in the 2013 budget via a 100% “The extraction of the tar from the tar sands write-off of costs in the year incurred. and the conversion of that bitumen in a heat retorting system is a simultaneous thing,” he MEEA is also trying to boost the recovery of points out. “In one process you move from stranded oil by means of the CO2 pipeline 4-7 degree API gravity bitumen to a 9-21 project meant to take CO2 from the Point degree API gravity fluid. This is refinable Lisas estate, where it is mainly emitted, to the and could go to Petrotrin or to a dedicated oilfields of the southern basin for the express

purpose of injecting into reservoirs to recover more of the left behind oil.

Minister Ramnarine has mandated the state owned National Gas Co. (NGC) to investigate the feasibility of establishing such a line.

He insists that this will be a commercial initiative, “with NGC building the line with its own money and operating it like a business to provide CO2 commercially to whoever wants it in the fields. I am personally driving this project.”

But why CO2? No doubt because of the persistent advocacy of Dr. Persad, who has been pleading CO2's case for years because it is the ideal re-pressurisation agent. “CO2 is effective in all reservoirs, at all depths, onshore and offshore. Its not like steam, limited to shallow onshore production. We have a huge resource of CO2 being wasted at the moment and it can also be sequestered.

So at the same time as we are increasing production we are sequesting all that CO2 that is currently being emitted.”

While Herbert Sukhu and Tony Paul estimate an extra 50,000 b/d from tar sands extraction, Persad insists CO2/EOR can add twice that or about 100,000 b/d. “That's 100,000 b/d more of oil for another 100 years,” he says.

“Think about it. That's why I have become so passionate about CO2/EOR.” He points out that CO2 is just as effective in retrieving heavy oil, as it is in the case of conventional medium gravity oil.

In the case of the former, CO2 can be applied in several ways, “depending on whether the oil is shallow or deep or whether the dips are steep or shallow,” Persad explains.

CO2 recovery methods include “huff and puff, immiscible flooding, misible flooding, gravity drainage and WAG-CO2 followed by or alternating with water.” So where should MEEA be concentrating its attention – on new oil exploration or old oil exploitation?

Some may say both but there is a strong case for the old oil route because there is far less risk and extra production can be brought on stream more quickly, particularly in comparison to any discovery in the deep water.

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

38

Energy Update

Energy Statistics In this FOURTH quarter issue of CONTACT for 2014, we continue our evaluation of the current statistical data arising from Trinidad and Tobago’s prosperous energy sector. We place special emphasis on crude oil, and natural gas production under both time-series and cross-sectional circumstances.

Table E.1 – Crude Oil Production by Companies for June to August 2013 and June to August 2014 (Barrels of oil per day) Company BG REPSOL

July

August

June

July

August

2013

2013

2013

2014

2014

2014

747

973

786

291

405

554

10,066

10,203

12,451

11,699

12,713

12,549

7,819

10,501

12,009

9,284

10,909

14,079

20,995

21,603

22,286

22,375

22,285

21,020

-

-

-

998

1,124

985

BPTT TRINMAR

June

TEPGL EOG

1,488

1,384

1,327

1,491

1,367

1,302

BHP

1,994

1,876

1,617

8,826

8,962

8,632

10,137

9,887

9,888

364

348

354

401

385

405

12,861

13,002

12,556

13,245

13,546

13,175

642

564

518

479

479

719

1,051

1,149

1,148

PRIMERA PETROTRIN TEPL BGCB NHETT NMHERL

-

-

-

88

75

74

1,181

1,267

1,187

103

105

106

PETROTRIN (FO)

95

77

86

882

779

699

PETROTRIN (LO)

114

135

123

6,912

6,750

6,172

PETROTRIN (IPSC)

910

961

870

1,392

1,480

1,183

-

-

-

8

5

7

BOLT

331

429

342

242

228

246

LAND SUBTOTAL

MORA

22,558

23,754

22,753

23,661

23,692

22,299

MARINE SUBTOTAL

54,054

57,336

61,424

55,848

58,557

59,885

TOTAL

76,612

81,089

84,177

79,509

82,248

82,184

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No.8 & Vol. 50 No. 1-8

Table E.4 - Ammonia Production for June to August 2013 and June to August 2014 (Tonnes) Company

June

July August

June

July August

2013

2013

2013

2014

2014

2014

2,586

18,928

21,377

21,004

8,165

19,520

TRINGEN 1

23,085

17,412

27,696

23,532

29,017

22,878

TRINGEN 2

41,759

30,166

40,871

41,986

43,806

41,210

YARA

PCS NITROGEN

158,130 164,070 170,521

POINT LISAS NITROGEN

50,308

50,469

55,403

45,152

48,623

42,617

CNC

42,594

52,416

51,230

49,749

49,351

48,187

NITROGEN 2000

45,109

39,779

45,764

46,047

23,559

35,981

AUM-NH3

12,189

787

161

14,764

32,641

53,097

TOTAL

375,760 374,027 413,023

Company BPTT

June

July

August

June

July

August

2013

2013

2013

2014

2014

2014

2,170

2,361

2,376

2,030

2,250

2,122

17

14

13

14

14

14

TRINMAR PETROTRIN

5

5

5

4

5

5

491

478

499

559

528

529

1,013

992

900

888

921

970

425

398

410

391

397

427

24

27

29

23

30

30

4,145

4,274

4,232

3,909

4,146

4,098

EOG BG BHP REPSOL TOTAL

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 50 No8. & Vol 50 No. 1-8 *Figures in red are preliminary

Table E.3 – Natural Gas Utilization by Sector for June to August 2013 and June to August 2014 (mmscf/d) Sector

June

July August

June

July

August

409,707 392,324 416,503

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No.8 & Vol. 50 No. 1-8

Table E.5 - Ammonia Export for June to August 2013 and June to August 2014 (Tonnes) Company

YARA TRINGEN 1 TRINGEN 2

Table E.2 – Natural Gas Production by Company for June to August 2013 and June to August 2014 (mmscf/d)

167,473 157,162 153,013

June

July

August

June

July August

2013

2013

2013

2014

2014

0

21,605

22,001

18,068

27,731

0

32,591

8,001

16,600

24,819

21,619

39,648

31,341

26,273

64,353

17,859

25,086

134,087 130,479

134,252

41,696

PCS NITROGEN

169,293

2014

165,111 121,262

POINT LISAS NITROGEN

43,017

66,036

20,506

50,523

43,582

49,102

CNC

56,018

23,358 100,315

13,201

27,566

55,543

NITROGEN 2000

36,424

25,008

55,614

10,116

66,793

83,190

0

0

0

0

0

0

309,437 371,789

315,332

AUM-NH3 TOTAL

379,039

370,261 373,831

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No.8 & Vol. 50 No. 1-8

Table E.6 - Methanol Production for June to August 2013 and June to August 2014 (Tonnes) Company

June

July

August

June

July

2013

2013

2013

2014

2014

August 2014

TTMC I

29,673

26,800

24,290

20,469

24,873

30,142

CMC

37,878

34,256

37,862

42,392

39,291

5,666

TTMC II

32,292

35,938

28,775

32,308

21,457

34,810 46,068

2013

2013

2013

2014

2014

2014

MIV

40,266

43,799

41,753

45,795

42,370

Power Generation

313

308

304

306

308

305

TITAN

58,889

62,748

64,772

67,070

59,041

63,515

Ammonia Manufacture

523

542

531

564

519

531

ATLAS

96,975

132,852

135,543

77,947

121,102

130,308

Methanol Manufacture

516

562

550

505

503

526

M5000

138,558

159,959

146,875

149,460

128,247

157,062

68

69

70

62

62

46

TOTAL

434,531

496,352

479,870

435,442

436,381

467,571

122

122

124

90

98

108

12

8

8

13

14

13

Refinery Iron & Steel Manufacture Cement Manufacture Ammonia Derivatives

13

26

21

12

20

20

Small Consumers

26

29

29

9

28

27

11

11

11

27

10

10

Liquified Natural Gas (LNG)

Gas Processing

2,240

2,342

2,293

2,059

2,310

2,236

TOTAL

3,844

4,018

3,942

3,647

3,872

3,822

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 49 No.1-12 & Vol. 51 No.8

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No. 8 & Vol. 50 Nos 1-8 *Figures in red are preliminary

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

40

Energy Update

Energy Statistics Table E.7 - Methanol Exports for June to August 2013 and June to August 2014 (Tonnes) Company TTMC I CMC

June

July

August

June

July

2013

2013

2013

2014

2014

2014

38,577

10,342

0

0

21,634

31,216

Chart E.4 Ammonia Production (Tonnes)

August

203,251

160,031

196,540

172,638

108,120

130,846

TTMC II

0

13,992

28,775

36,224

57,669

57,243

MIV

0

0

0

0

0

0

TITAN

46,178

87,636

62,117

96,345

55,709

96,526

ATLAS

60,449

177,142

98,470

72,365

106,853

113,240

M5000

39,153

104,625

94,378

73,428

76,927

38,844

TOTAL

387,608

553,768

480,280

451,000

426,912

467,915

Source: Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries, Vol. 51 No.2 & Vol. 50 No.8

Chart E.1 - Crude Oil Production by Company (barrels per day)

Chart E.5 Ammonia Export (Tonnes)

Chart E.2 Natural Gas Production (mmscf/d)

Chart E.6 Methanol Production (Tonnes)

Chart E.3 Natural Gas Utilisation by Sector (mmscf/d)

Chart E.7 Methanol Exports (Tonnes)

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

42

Energy Update

Implementing Local Content Policies in Oil, Gas and Mining - Getting to Common Ground, Pt.11

By Anthony Paul

W

ith the discovery of large amounts of resources within their territory, there is a natural expectation of benefits by citizens, sometimes immediate and game changing, often exaggerated by politicians, the media and others. At the same time, investors want to maximize the returns on their investments and reduce their risks. The very act of engaging suppliers and other participants, who are new to the industry or to the investor, introduces an element of risk.

This creates a tension between the investor and the local community’s expectations, especially as the latter may have a limited understanding of the reality of the situation and a distrust of the investor and/or its spokespersons. Further, the investor often has a limited understanding of the community and the hopes, aspirations and experiences of its people.

There has been a sea change in the role that citizens see themselves playing in the removal of their resources, including their desire to be heard, to participate and to benefit directly.

A similar sea change is required of investors, in the way they conduct their business, from the way they engage citizens to the way they make procurement decisions. The status quo will not work in the new world of enlightened and engaged citizens and investors who move faster and better with the tide will reap the benefits.

In the 1970s and 80s extractives companies approached environmental issues as if they were in denial, changing only after disastrous incidents. Similarly, they removed themselves from any responsibility for social well being, suggesting that this was the responsibility of governments. The 1990s and 2000s saw a more enlightened approach to these aspects of development. In much the same way, investors are beginning to realize that they have a direct role in the economic development

of their host communities and, as they did directly with the industry). In this case, we with social and environmental engagement, can say that: must reshape their culture, operations and • Local Content is the input to activities directly involved in operations along the procedures, using their strengths to positively value chain, which are provided by local impact economic development in their host individuals or businesses. communities and become valued members of their societies.

The last is preferable, as the others are open Trusted communication is the only mechanism to very wide interpretation and abuse and may to fill the breach between citizens and not be directly measurable, while those in the corporations. For this to happen, the language last are. Keep in mind that: spoken and messages conveyed must reflect • by definition, capacity development is an enabler of local content, not the local content the concerns of all parties and the reality of itself involved in an activity. Building the situations. Not only must messages be capacity and not using it, as sometimes credible, so too must be the messengers and happens, may in fact be value eroding, rather delivery vehicles. The best route to get to this than value-adding. holy grail will be clarity, simplicity and consistency of language and transparency of • Equity ownership can be quoted on paper, but be different, in fact, if shareholder information, objectives and decision making agreements, etc. give voting rights and and a well informed and capable civil society. distribution of profits formulae that are inconsistent with equity distribution.

1. Clarifying the language of local content • The benefits of local content are broad and - Definition wide, so that trying to measure those In this context, we may choose to speak of or becomes even more convoluted, particularly define local content as one or more of the when the sector activities are not the only activities, inputs and/or outcomes/benefits of contributors to the benefit – for example if the various stages. For instance, local content Government builds a port that the sector may be defined in terms of one or other or the uses, how much of the subsequent benefit following: do we ascribe directly to the sector and how much to government? a) The cumulative inputs and outcomes of all stages of capacity development, productive 2. Measuring local content inputs and benefit generation; Since we tend to agree that “what gets b) Some combination of the enabling actions, measured gets done”, we suggest a simple delivery mechanisms, inputs to the value chain measurement system because: or associated benefits involved in or derived • Developing a measurement system is challenging from some limited number of stages of the local content chain (such as Local Content • Measurement and reporting can become an administrative burden and Capacity Development); or • The process of monitoring and compliance should be reasonable, consistent and simple c) That specific stage where local components to implement. are added to the sector’s activities through the procurement process and are most directly measurable (i.e. when local goods and services In suggesting a measurement system, it is are procured for use in the activities associated recommended that, as in all businesses, inputs

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

43

Energy Update to all petroleum and mining activities (projects and operations) are ultimately measured by their cost. To quantify the benefits, we recognise that: • Contributions to local economic and social development can result from income to a variety of factors of production: - Land (& raw materials) - Labour (skilled & unskilled, manual and intellectual) - Capital (debt & equity) In that context, Local Content can therefore be measured by: - revenues accrued by owners of land and resources - income received by locals - income streams to local shareholders and creditors.

If we accept this simple logic, then the measurement should be simple, clear, consistent and easily verifiable.

3. Increasing local content Increasing local content can therefore mean increasing local inputs/ factors of production,

in the value chain. Since the level of local content is dependent on level of local capacity of people, businesses and capital markets, the ability to capture local value is dependent on both the implementation of the various facets of local content and the quality of governance and management among the stakeholders.

Given the value of the different stages and the deliverables from each, increasing local content therefore requires: • Clarifying the goals, objectives, roles, responsibilities, relationships and accountability of stakeholders • Increasing local capacity • Ensuring that procurement facilitates and/or favours locals • A coherent & effective measurement system, inclusive of the metrics, targets, actions and assurance processes (monitoring, reporting, etc.)

• Improving local content governance, management, monitoring and assurance

content in a manner that describes the inputs to and desired outcomes of local content. It also allows for clarification of the interrelations between the various activities and outcomes and of the roles, responsibilities and relationships of stakeholders.

Such a common narrative allows for the setting up of the basic infrastructure of the “local content ecosystem” that is required for successful achievement of local content objectives. It is hoped that this will lead to more open and trusted communication and early agreement on the approaches to be taken and the outcomes that can be expected.

Other components of this ecosystem, such as the activities involved in the various stages of local content, the roles of the various stakeholders, industry experiences and other aspects of local content implementation will be the focus of future articles in this series.

The aim is to assist practitioners in operating companies, services providers, regulators and 4. Conclusion and follow up civil society to improve their own performance This article is intended to provide a mechanism and ability to hold other stakeholders for discussing the component parts of local accountable.

Welcome to New Members A’S TRAVEL SERVICES Address: 177 Tragarete Rd, Port of Spain Email: diane.as-travel@tstt.net.tt Telephone: (868) 622-5502 CONNECTION MANAGEMENT LIMITED Address: Apt #3 The Huttons, #2 Hutton Road, St. Anns Email: jane.quesnel@connectiontt.com Telephone: (868) 290-6244 Website: http://www.connectiontt.com EVOLVED ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LTD. Address: Unit 5 Railway Road, San Juan Email: vbynoe@eabs.co.tt Telephone: (868) 675-5520 HIC OMEGA CONSULTING Address: 11 Woodpecker Lane, River Estate, Diego Martin

Email: carolyn.correia@gmail.com Telephone: (868) 798-8596 Website: www.hicomegaconsulting.com I-TAXI LIMITED Address: c/o Grange Inn Mt Irvine, P.O. Box 401, Scarborough, Tobago Email: amr@magusict.net Telephone: (868) 333-5452 Website:www.i-taxiltd.com P3 CONSULTING Address: #5 Apartment, 3 Saw Mill Ave, Barataria Email: p3consultingtt@gmail.com Telephone: (868) 796-7741 Website: www.ps3consultingtt.com

STAR INNOVATIONS HOLDINGS LTD. Address: 13 Maranta Drive, Roystonia, Couva Email: starinnovationstt@gmail.com Telephone: (868) 685-8815 Website: starinnovationstt@gmail.com THE NATIONAL INSURANCE BOARD OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Address: 2A Cipriani Boulevard, Port of Spain Email: jhdopwell@nibtt.net Telephone: (868) 625-2127 Website: www.nibtt.com VILLA DE ROSE GUEST HOUSE LTD. Address: #3A Borde Street Email: villaderose@yahoo.com Telephone: (868) 625-2513

ROLF FERREIRA Address: 104 East, Bayside Towers, Westmoorings Email: rfconsultingtt@gmail.com Telephone: (868) 721-9186

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development

44

Growth Pole Strategy, a means to diversifying the economy for future sustainability

By Dr. Indrani Bachan-Persad, Economic Development Board, Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development

T

rinidad and Tobago’s economy is well poised to becoming economically sustainable, by pursuing the growth pole strategy outlined in Government’s Medium Term Policy Framework 2011-2014, to diversify the economy. With economic pundits predicting that oil and gas will dwindle over time in Trinidad and Tobago, it is not surprising that government’s approach focuses on sustainable development by identifying potential growth drivers existing in the country capable of advancing the rate of growth and development in specified geographical areas, with a view to creating a competitive and diversified economy. A growth pole is defined as a developmental tool by policy makers, to improve the standard of living in targeted areas in the country.

Therefore, the growth pole strategy which is linked to the seven clusters for diversification will ultimately improve the social, economic and environmental quality of life experienced by particular communities.

The Economic Development Board (EDB) which is under the aegis of the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development was specifically established in 2011, to study the socio-economic issues which affect these growth poles and advise the Minister of Planning and Sustainable Development, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie on how best to develop these areas and so make these beneficiary communities more sustainable. Chaired by former banker Richard P. Young, the board is comprised of a combination of professionals from the private and public sectors as well as academia.

The role of the EDB is strategic and therefore brings together the main players from the public and private sectors with stakeholders in community including organizations, groups along with residents, in achieving government’s growth pole strategy.

So the EDB is more focussed on coordination rather than direct implementation; but its job is to make things happen and get things done.

These clusters are financial services, tourism, food sustainability, energy, culture and creative industries, maritime industries and ICT. The growth poles identified for socio-economic development are East Port of Spain, Central Trinidad, South East Port of Spain, North Coast and Tobago. This community driven approach to macro-economic planning is expected to lessen the country’s dependence on oil revenues by creating a culture of creativity, entrepreneurship and innovation while improving the standard of living for residents in these communities through the development of a dominant, competitive private sector. It links cluster formation to growth pole development and synergies between the two are certain to generate opportunities and wealth. It also embraces a bottom-up approach to complement traditional top-down investment strategies.

As a first step in this direction, the EDB has commissioned a number of studies on various subjects to identify the clusters of businesses which have the potential to become profitable and competitive, create employment opportunities and propel growth within these five growth poles. To date, cluster mapping studies have been conducted

by Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business for Central and South West Peninsula Growth Poles. Some notable clusters identified for the specific growth poles are as follows: For the Central Growth Pole - business services, pottery, retail and distribution, agro processing, logistics services, energy services and cultural and heritage tourism.

Unfortunately, the transition of the mind-set of nationals accustomed to reaping quick benefits of an oil rich economy coupled with the slow pace at which tangible benefits are derived from this growth pole strategy at the community level have made many persons sceptical about government’s commitment to economic development in areas riddled with low literacy together with high poverty, high crime rates and high unemployment. Although people admit that diversification is a slow process they still expect instant results.

In the South West Peninsula – agriculture, construction, fishing, financial services, energy services, upstream energy, education, wood and wood related products, fabrication, printing and publishing, fashion, dairy/livestock, meat processing, port development and tourism. In the North Coast Growth Pole, farming, fishing and small-scale tourism have been identified as the main propellers of economic growth in that area.

Simultaneously, the EDB has commissioned two aerial mapping studies of the Central and North Coast Growth Poles to identify how the land is being used in terms of infrastructural works, road networks and population concentrations. Other

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

studies have been commissioned by the EDB such as Economic Assessment of the Traded and NonTraded Sectors of North Coast Trinidad.

Once these studies are completed, the communities are consulted to get their perspectives, opinions and ideas which are taken into consideration in finalizing the developmental plans for the area. So far, three consultations have taken place in the Central, South West Peninsula, and North Coast Growth Poles in 2014, with the other two: East Port of Spain and Tobago planned for early 2015. In the Central Growth Pole some progress has been made with the establishment of an Executing Agency –the Community Improvement Services Limited to implement the growth pole strategy for that area.

This model is being replicated in the other growth poles except East Post of Spain which has its own management structure - the East Port of Spain Development Company which is the principal executing agency. The EDB has established a Steering Committee to align the growth pole strategy with the larger development strategy for that area and is chaired by EDB Executive Director, Dr. Rikhi Permanand.

Simultaneously, the Government has been encouraging the injection of capital through large investments by the private sector such as the construction of US$850 million Methanol and DiMethyl-Ether (DME) plants in La Brea by Japanese firm Mitsubishi and local partner Massy Limited and the expansion of the Centre City Mall in Chaguanas at a cost of $900 million by George Aboud and Sons Limited. This approach to partnering with the private sector, a key stakeholder in the growth pole strategy is expected to spur economic development by creating employment in these communities and build up business and commerce. The construction of a methanol plant at La Brea to produce DME is expected to create some 3,000 jobs during its construction. This project will provide added benefits to persons who live in the South West Peninsula Growth Pole by spurring economic growth in services- oriented businesses, to support the Mitsubishi investment. In both instances, the EDB has been working assiduously with the private sector and Government Ministries to make these projects happen.

Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development

The EDB also partners with a number of government ministries, state organizations and the tertiary level institutions to hasten infrastructural and remedial works much needed in mostly neglected and rural communities, to create the right conditions for development and private sector investment to take place. One such agency is the South West Local Economic Development (LED) agency of the Trade and Economic Development Unit (TEDU) of the University of the West Indies, headed by Economist Dr. Roger Hosein. This group has been conducting educational training programmes in three of the growth poles – Central, South West and North Coast. In the South West Growth Pole it has developed the sports- based Aganar programme for youths. The EDB is also assisting this agency to establish a Star.tt Community ICT Centre, to improve internet connectivity in Buenos Ayres in that growth pole. This project is being done in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology.

To date, the EDB has had some notable achievements which have the potential for significant impact on specific growth poles. Through its strategic intervention, the agro processing industry in Trinidad and Tobago is well poised to take off with the increased production of cocoa and honey in the South West Peninsula and North Coast Growth Poles. In terms of the cocoa industry, Cabinet has approved the replacement of the Cocoa and Coffee Industry Board with the Cocoa Development Company with the aim of creating a free market economy for cocoa and enabling farmers to make their own arrangements with buyers and so negotiate better prices. Quick on the heels of this development has been the establishment of Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa Company which is set to produce locally made chocolates and chocolate liquor by the end of 2014.

45

reduce poverty to zero, in five fishing communities in the North Coast – Matelot, Toco, Blanchisseuse, Las Cuevas and Maracas. So far, remedial works and short-term capacity building programmes have been undertaken in these five fishing communities.

These include net repair facilities, refurbishment of engine locker rooms and training for fishermen. The objective is to both develop this industry and to make it an attractive and profitable profession so that there would be continuity in the future. This project has since been transitioned to the Ministry of Land and Marine Resources.

Transitioning from an oil rich country to a more diversified economy with emphasis on growing the non-energy sector as outlined in Government’s Medium Term Policy Framework (2011-2014) is no easy feat for a country accustomed to an abundance of oil revenues. The biggest challenge for government and by extension the Economic Development Board is how to change the mind-set of the citizenry of the country to realize that unless a sustainable economic strategy is assiduously pursued for long -term growth, then the country may well find itself in a serious economic crisis, because of its dependence on a single resource.

This country produces some of the best quality cocoa in the world and with the potential for increasing cocoa farming in the growth poles and Other planned construction projects on which the the resultant production of locally made and branded EDB is directly collaborating with public and private cocoa by-products, may very well see this industry stakeholders to execute in each growth pole are becoming a serious competitor in the production of as follows - in the Central or 4Cs Growth Pole - chocolates internationally. Similarly, the EDB has store front upgrades along the Chaguanas Main studied the honey industry and has recommended Road, development of a Potters Creative Hub, car the increased production of honey in these growth To date the EDB has been steadily following the park next to the Chaguanas market, park and ride poles, to the National Advisory Committee of the growth pole strategy for diversifying the country and facility, new economic zones, temporary and long- Ministry of Food production. has achieved success in setting up the institutional term relocation for Chaguanas Street Vendors and framework to implement this strategy at the increase in skills training facilities. In the North Also carded for development in these growth poles community level in the five growth poles. These Coast – development of Las Cuevas Resort, Project has been the resuscitation of the fisheries industry. successes have met with certain challenges, one ‘5’ Zero and redevelopment of Maracas Beach Fishing has been identified as a main source of of the foremost being community cynicism because Facility. In South West Peninsula – Industrial park, income in these areas by the EDB and with high of past neglect of rural and urban communities . port development and Debe Wellington Mall. And demand for a commodity which is fast becoming However, the EDB is determined to continue in its in East Port of Spain – creative hub, flood alleviation, low in supply, the board recognizes the importance role of coordinating all the key stakeholders to get Port of Spain market upgrade and women’s city of sustaining and expanding an industry which is buy in and to advise on projects which would make project. In all of these instances, the EDB works to part of the vital food chain of the country. Project the five growth poles and by extension the country support other Ministries which take the lead. Five Zero was established by the EDB especially to sustainable.

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN

An Approved Mediation Agency registered with the Mediation Board of Trinidad & Tobago

The Provider of Choice for Professional Mediation & Arbitration Services: Corporate, Commercial, Construction, Engineering, Medical Negligence, Personal Injury, Intellectual Property, Human& Industrial Relations, Insurance, Debt Recovery, Sport, Land, Estate & Family Business Disputes

For more information contact: THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTRE, Ground Floor, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Building, Columbus Circle, Westmoorings.

Tel: (868) 632 4051 or 637 6966 Fax: (868) 632 4046 or 637 7425 E-mail: drc@chamber.org.tt

ExporTT

46

The link between Growth Poles and Market Research

By Dhanraj Harrypersad, Manager, Export Market Research Centre ccording to Speakman and Koivisto in ‘The Africa Competitiveness Report 2013’ Growth poles are simultaneous, coordinated investments in many sectors to support self-sustaining industrialization in a country. They further suggest that growth pole projects are not oriented around addressing identified market failures, but around capitalizing on and augmenting opportunities that already exist in an economy.

A

Trinidad and Tobago has identified a number of strategic clusters for economic diversification which hold the greatest opportunities. It is hoped that through leveraging what already exists in these geographic areas, we can build a solid platform for economic diversification. This article takes a closer look at this approach and the complementary work exporTT is doing towards the achievement of anticipated growth.

The Economic Development Board of Trinidad and Tobago has classified the strategic clusters into five broad sectors which are food, energy, creativity, maritime and tourism. It is hoped that there will be synergistic elements in each sector so that infrastructure which is developed for a particular sector can facilitate growth in other sectors. This may eventually lead to the development of special economic zones or even an urban agglomeration economy. The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s (GORTT) input into these sectors extends beyond infrastructure and includes ICT, Financial Services, Education and Training, Research and Development and Intellectual Property. These inputs will help to engender an enabling environment which is conducive to both local and foreign investors establishing businesses.

The food sector can be used as an example of how this is meant to work. This sector is the one of the country’s best performing non-oil/gas production sectors and has the ability to reduce the country’s ever growing food import bill. There are two growth poles which have been identified for this purpose in Central and the South West Peninsula. Some of the major challenges faced by the sector according to a

recent survey conducted by exporTT are shortage of labour, lack of finances, market research, knowledge of exporting procedures, shipping and workspace.

Growth poles can assist with some of the challenges since investment in an enabling environment will reduce some costs related to workspace and skilled labour. The role of exporTT is specific to tackling some of the other challenges which can impact on the success of these companies; mainly market research and knowledge of procedures. exporTT also provides support and training to companies in international food safety, quality standards compliance and certification; research and development (development of prototypes and patent applications); market access (trade shows, trade missions and in-market research) and trade certification (processing of certificates for duty free access to trade agreement markets). exporTT has actually done considerable work in this sector in the last two years through many of the services mentioned above.

The major ingredient in this growth poles strategy is investments from the local private sector and from foreign investors. GORTT has introduced a public-private-partnership mechanism toward this end. It is expected that a range of infrastructure and service-delivery projects will provide attractive opportunities to potential investors. The investors however will need to properly assess the markets and the projects. Information on potential market size, trade and economic data, shipping and distribution, trade agreements which can be leveraged, consumer products and taste and economic and political risk will be necessary in doing this. Similarly, decision-making among exporters about which markets to target, pricing of products and entry strategies, would require research to minimise costly errors and ensure success. The Export Market Research Centre (EMRC) was set up for just this purpose. It can deliver the information both exporters and investors require to make decisions.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

exporTT’s Export Market Research Centre (EMRC) The EMRC is meant to be the leading provider of market intelligence for exporters of goods and services. The services provided include: trade data analysis, country and political risk reports, industry analysis, pricing analysis and market entry requirements and costs. This information is free, accurate and up to date. A number of recognised databases are utilised to generate the information such as: Euromonitor International, International Trade Centre (Trade Map, Market Access Map, Standards Map), Business Monitor International, Panjiva and the World Bank. Apart from these databases the EMRC has at its disposal, customized market reports developed by officers visiting markets or in-market consultants. These reports were done specifically for the goods and services exported by Trinidad and Tobago. In addition to the information provided, the unit also trains exporters in conducting effective market research. In 2014 three sessions on ‘Introduction to Market Research’ have been completed thus far and one on Developing Export Dashboards which was done in collaboration with the Caribbean Export Development Agency. These training sessions allow exporters to conduct their own research as well as give them the ability to better interpret the data which may have been provided.

The EMRC recognises that each exporter/investor and their market research needs are unique and carefully analyses the information needs of our customers as an essential prerequisite of the market research process. A useful feature is the Export Dashboard which is a concise summary research document. If the exporter, however, identifies something of interest in the document which requires further attention then more detailed research is executed. exporTT looks forward to supporting Trinidad & Tobago’s development of growth poles and will do its part in making the companies within these zones an exporting success by providing our suite of services to the exporting community.

48

UWI

Growth Poles - a Path out of Poverty Dr Marlene Attzs, Head, Department of Economics, Faculty of Social Sciences, UWI, St. Augustine Development Overview for T&T In the UNDP’s 2014 report on Human Development, Trinidad and Tobago ranked 64th out of 187 countries surveyed. The ranking is based on the Human Development Index (HDI), which scores countries between 0 and 1, depending on how well or badly a country is performing in three indicators: education, health and per capita income. According to this index, with a score of 0.766 Trinidad and Tobago is in the high human development category. Between 1980 and 2013, Trinidad and Tobago’s HDI value increased from 0.658 to 0.766, an increase of 16.4% or an average annual increase of about 0.46.

Notwithstanding the encouraging HDI ranking, there is evidence of highly concentrated “pockets of poverty” which reveal continuing inequity. Some estimates suggest, for example, in areas such as Nariva/Mayaro/Siparia and St. Andrew/St. David, the poverty rate reaches between 30 and 40 per cent. The last national survey of living conditions for Trinidad and Tobago, completed in 2005, recorded a poverty level of 16.7%.

A more recent look at Trinidad and Tobago’s poverty profile was done in 2012 as part of the National Human Development Atlas. The analysis was done on the administrative areas of Trinidad and Tobago and looked, among other things, at the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The MPI focuses on multiple deprivations at the individual level in health, education and standard of living.

The MPI for Trinidad and Tobago is 0.017, but there are six regions in which the MPI is worse off than the nation’s average. They are in descending order, Sangre Grande (0.026), Princess Town (0.024), Mayaro/Rio Claro (0.019), San Juan/Laventille (0.019), Arima (0.018) and Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo (0.018). These six regions, combined, represent over fifty per cent (51% or 39, 587) of the total poorest or most vulnerable population (77,115).

Economic Justification for Growth Pole Development The concept of growth poles can be perceived as the attraction and concentration of activities from which there is the transmission of growth in surrounding areas. The theory of growth poles can be defined as, “… a large group of industries strongly related through input-output linkages around a leading industry…” (Richardson and Richardson 1975, 163).

The concept of growth poles originally pertained to economic space, but this concept was later expanded to include geographical space where there is a set of dynamic industries that are clustered. The major objective of the growth pole concept is to increase

industrial product as well as the concentration of energy sector) and simultaneously recommending development located in large urban centres. targeted interventions in areas of potential growth which can contribute significantly to the national Some of the characteristics and advantages of the GDP in the future. growth pole concept include: At the geographically-defined growth pole level, 1. Encouraging the growth of employment and physical mapping of the Central and North Coast of population within a defined region at particular Trinidad has provided important details on land use, land capability, infrastructure and road networks. locations; 2. Spatial discrimination or selectivity when Cluster mapping studies have enabled the considering location. Discrimination is done via identification of specific competitive growth drivers the identification of centres which have the for some of the growth poles including the following: capabilities to support a variety of economic • For the Central growth pole, competitive clusters activities; include business services, retail & distribution, 3. Informing policymakers of the advantages of agro processing, logistics services, energy incorporating industrial policy, physical planning, services, cultural & heritage tourism and pottery. and inter- and intra-regional economic planning; • In the South Western Peninsula, identified growth 4. The strategies implemented via growth pole should drivers are agriculture, construction, fishing, financial services, energy services, upstream be related to the development process and energy, education, wood and wood related increases the organized administrative capacity. products, fabrication, printing and publishing, Growth Pole Development in Trinidad and Tobago fashion, diary/livestock, meat processing, port development and tourism.

The Trinidad and Tobago Medium Term Policy • In North Coast Trinidad, fishing, farming and smallscale tourism are the main growth drivers.

Framework (MTPF) for 2011-2014 noted that the GORTT identified five growth poles for focussed attention. Four of the growth poles are located in The rollout of the Growth Poles Development Strategy Trinidad: Central, the South Western Peninsula, East is expected to positively affect national productivity, Port of Spain and the North Coast; the fifth growth income, employment, poverty, business development pole is the North-Eastern region of Tobago. The and cluster-centred growth between now and the areas identified for growth pole development have year 2021, thereby increasing the generation of a common characteristic: poverty levels and competitive and value-added exports and deepening unemployment that are significantly higher than the diversification. The result should increase Trinidad national average and therefore not considered to be and Tobago’s resilience to shifts in the international consistent with the Government’s thrust toward arena. sustainable economic development.

Future directions for addressing Poverty and It is envisaged that targeted investment in these Economic Development areas will result in improvements in the development landscape of those communities, thus reversing the While the Human Development indicators for Trinidad uneven and inequitable growth and development and Tobago suggest that at the national level there have been improvements the quality of life (albeit pattern in the country. measured only in terms of health, education and per capita income), the evidence of continued pockets of poverty at the localised, regional levels should not be ignored. It is necessary therefore, that continued robust research on the causes of such pockets of poverty, and appropriate solutions to reduce or eliminate this poverty, be at the forefront of policy making.

A major driver of the growth pole development thrust in the country is the Economic Development Board.

While the work of that Board is advisory, its focus is on the diversification of the economy (beyond the

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

The UWI, through our research on economic development, poverty, gender and sustainable livelihoods, along with national data collection agencies, can provide the empirical basis on which to further expand and deepen the nation-wide approach to economic development, as embodied in the concept of growth poles.

Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago

50

Building a Strong Telecommunications and Broadcasting Backbone for Facilitating ITC Development in Trinidad and Tobago

O

ver the last decade, there has been increased use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for accessing information that has driven economic development world over.

Access to information that drives economic development requires a strong telecommunications backbone upon which to transmit data.

In 2004, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago set up the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) to ensure the liberalization and expansion of the local telecommunications and broadcasting industry. TATT has therefore focused on building that strong backbone for ICT Development in Trinidad and Tobago.

TATT’s mandate included the development of an open market for telecommunications services; the orderly development of the sector; promoting universal access to telecommunications services for all persons in Trinidad and Tobago and protecting the interests of the public amongst others.

Today, the high level of use of telecommunication technologies and services in this country has significantly contributed to the development of the country’s key economic sectors such as energy, manufacturing, finance, telecommunications, education, health and the environment. Parallel with this is the strengthening of social platforms through the use of the technologies in areas such as entertainment, communications and socialization.

Among the factors contributing to this relatively high usage were TATT initiatives aimed at the development of the country’s telecommunications and broadcasting sectors. Some of TATT’s key achievements include expansion of the market; deepening competition; the development of a relevant legal and legislative

framework to aid development; effective band facilitating cheaper and wider access by management of the Country’s spectrum resources; customers to digital services. and the provision of consistent and reliable market data to aid decision-making amongst others. Consumer Advocacy – TATT has held consultations with civil society groups to guide the Looking ahead over the next five (5) years, TATT development of a consumer advocacy framework will focus on three key areas – sector transformation, to develop more informed consumers. Such consumer advocacy and building organisational consumers will be better able to protect themselves capacity to support the new era of dynamic and in the dynamic and rapidly changing technology market through wise choices. The organisation is rapidly changing technology. also working towards the implementation of a new Sector Transformation – The aim is to develop package of Consumer Quality of Service a market that is ready for transition to a fully digital Regulations. Once passed in Parliament these platform. Projects high on the agenda include regulations will offer improved quality of service and enhanced protection to consumers and greater amongst others: • the development of a local Internet Exchange enforcement strength to TATT. Point or IXP for the routing of local Internet traffic within Trinidad and Tobago. This is Organisational Strengthening – TATT recognises expected to speed up private and public sector the dynamic and seismic changes taking place online communication and create an environment within the sector as a result of rapidly changing for local content creation and application technology and international agreements like the European Partnership Agreement (EPA). development.

• Digital Terrestrial Television that will bring high The organisation has therefore begun working on definition digital television to all viewers. significant changes to the Telecommunications Act • Number Portability that will allow persons and and its Subsidiary Regulations to bring them in line organisations to change their providers without with these agreements and make the organisation better poised for the rapidly changing telecoms changing their numbers.

• Increased access to basic telecommunications future. Included in this, is the revised consumer and broadcasting services by every member of quality standards regulations which when passed in Parliament will bring significant protection to the public • Enhanced data services with the potential for consumers and bring stronger compliance and the introduction of a third mobile operator regulatory enforcement capabilities to TATT. • Increased consumer focus with the Organisational strengthening will also include implementation of Consumer Quality of Service building of human capacity; developing innovative resource management strategies; promoting forward Regulations. looking economic regulation; enabling broadcasting TATT also looks forward to the implementation of sector transformation; facilitating new investment; Enhanced Data Services as providers implement strengthening the legal and regulatory framework improved Technologies over the 700 MHz spectrum and implementing of universal service.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN

An Approved Mediation Agency registered with the Mediation Board of Trinidad & Tobago The Centre’s Mediation Programme is Accredited by the Mediation Board of Trinidad and Tobago

The Centre provides public and customized in-house training in ADR & related fields, such as Mediation, Negotiation, Arbitration, Conflict Resolution, Stress & Anger Management, Self Management for the Busy Executive, Dealing with Difficult People, Critical Thinking For more information contact: THE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTRE, Ground Floor, Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Building, Columbus Circle, Westmoorings.

Tel: (868) 632 4051 or 637 6966 Fax: (868) 632 4046 or 637 7425 E-mail: drc@chamber.org.tt

PWC

52

Rapid Urbanisation - Collaboration in the tomorrow’s liveable city is inevitable The global rise of cities has been unprecedented. In 1800, 2% of the world’s population lived in cities. Now it’s 50%. Every week, some 1.5 million people join the urban population, through a combination of migration and childbirth.

By 2025, there could be nearly 40 cities each with a population of over 10 million

Another approach to managing rapid urbanisation has also emerged: harnessing citizens’ own ‘smartness’ by deploying the technology directly to them in order to keep cities growing and liveable. A bottom-up approach to urban management deploys technology horizontally instead of vertically, enabling smart citizens rather than just smart cities. Examples range from developing an energy selfsufficient street in Austin, Texas, to pioneering groups of small production units in Barcelona.

Empowerment of the individual through technology

Inevitably, this rapid expansion will affect the infrastructure, environment and social fabric of cities. Physical infrastructure will increase under this pressure.

Transport capacity will be stretched as demands for schools, hospitals and general housing rises. Social cohesion will also be impacted with high levels of immigration, disparities of income and high unemployment- crime levels and social tensions could also increase. If not managed properly, rapid urbanization can quicken environmental degradation, depleting natural resources and releasing more pollution whilst bigger cities also risk becoming more exposed to the effects of climate change. Cities cannot keep growing in the same way without becoming unsustainable. The numbers living in urban slums have risen by a third since 1990. Cities occupy 0.5% of the world’s surface, but consume 75% of its resources. Over the next decade, New York, Beijing, Shanghai and London alone will need US$8 trillion in infrastructure investments.

For city leaders, the implications are also significant as they work to ensure that cities grow in a sustainable way. Leaders face tough choices trying to keep their cities liveable. Options being examined include floating cities – especially relevant for low-lying regions threatened by rising sea levels – and revitalising ‘ghost’ cities or failing economies through crowdfunding.

A further approach is to build a new city around the latest technologies: the ‘smart city’. Smart cities involve substantive investments in infrastructure, built around the latest digital technologies. From Masdar City in Abu Dhabi to Migaa near Nairobi, spending on smart cities will hit US$1 trillion within two years.

Smart cities however, can lead to the same problems they are being designed to address. Te financial, environmental and social costs of these manufactured cities can outweigh the benefits from technology.

The new city built around the latest “smart” technologies, enabling smart water, garbage and transport services

The bottom-up city distributes technology horizontally in order to empower its citizens to make choices on how to optimise their enjoyment of the city.

Cities can empower individuals through technology in several ways: • Provide platforms that facilitate entrepreneurship; recognising that future employment will be driven by as much the individual as the corporate.

• Design services that are increasingly tailored for smaller-scale local manufacturing facilities, which micro-production technologies such as 3D printing will enable.

• Enable energy independence through smart meters and smart grids • Use the SMAC technologies to develop platforms which allow a twoway dialogue between the city and the individual (i.e. in planning the most efficient commute home) As all these initiatives and opportunities demonstrate, technology is changing the reason why cities exist. The glue that has held the city together for decades – physical clusters, mass production and the traditional office – is dissolving, and being replaced by digital clusters, mass customisation and online connectivity. As a result, people that used to be attracted to cities because of employment opportunities are now attracted by the social capital or quality of life a city offers. Exactly how cities evolve will be determined by the collective preferences of city governments, people and businesses. As business leaders, we need to ask ourselves what kind of city we want to inhabit. Some companies around the world are already enabling the transition towards the new liveable city.

Rapid urbanisation brings challenges and wider opportunities. One key opportunity is that it can provide part of the solution to another of the megatrends – demographic shifts – as the challenge of the ‘greying planet’ grows. In the future, the majority of the world’s ageing population will probably live in cities.

And as people remain healthier for longer, their continuing contribution to social and economic value – for example, by working beyond traditional retirement ages, helped by advancing technology – may produce a ‘longevity dividend’ rather than a burden.

Source:http://www.holyroodconnect.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Spanishconcept-for-a-smart-city.jpg March 2014

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

ACCA

54

China’s next global giants

By Brenda Lee Tang, FCCA Head of ACCA Caribbean he continuing rapid growth of China’s corporate businesses is generating greater global interest than ever before, with Europe, America and Africa paying a keen interest in Chinese business activities and success. Major Chinese businesses now operate at the forefront of the global stage, including Lenovo, which bought IBM’s PC business, and Haier, which makes household goods such as fridges and freezers and now has 10% of the world’s major appliances market.

report’s analysis. Professor Atherton also looks in detail at four Chinese companies - iSoftstone Holdings Ltd, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company Ltd, CTRIP and Zhejiang Shangfeng Industrial Holding Company Ltd and explores how they have got to the cusp of global growth.

Alibaba.com, the online store, issued what could be the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO) in April 2014, and more Chinese enterprises are following suit, with agricultural, mining and extraction companies also acquiring worldwide holdings.

This has prompted many analysts to ask: “What is the secret to China’s business’s success?”

It may not be a secret – as we believe the answer may lie in careful financial and business planning.

The analysis looked at not only revenue for the year, but also revenue growth from 2008-2012, as well as domestic dominance and international presence.

Business model and strategy was also a factor in scoring the companies for the purposes of the research.

These six banks are in the world’s 100 largest banks, so they are major financial institutions in their own The report not only assesses and identifies who the right. While these ‘middle six’ have a growing next big Chinese global players will be, but also to international presence, they are yet to reach the look at how they got to where they are now with the size of China’s huge state banks. Like the other potential to compete against established giants in businesses in this report, the banks all share common China and other markets. Analysis shows that the characteristics, including a strong business model 100 companies identified do not just focus on their as well as financial innovation. All six have shown balance sheets, but also on growth strategies. They significant growth rates of between 24% and 29% possess an in-depth industry knowledge, as well as per year consistently over five years. an awareness of customers’ needs.

This is a positive trend from China’s banking sector.

The future growth trajectories of these companies It highlights how sound finances and identifying risks are based on sustained annual levels of growth from and opportunities are key ingredients for a successful 2008-2012, which show a firm ability to go beyond bank. It is vital for these banks to continue to seek the home market. What can be seen from the support and insights from their finance teams as research is that the majority of the top 100 companies they continue to flourish, and to turn to the identified have doubled in size and in some cases management accountant for these insights and quadrupled. So they are clearly doing something views. right.

Making it all add up A recipe for growth The success of the 100 companies identified in the The management accountant is a key component report can be attributed to the ability to cater to in a business’s recipe for growth. This can be seen customer’s needs, to pre-empt local conditions and clearly in this Giants report, as the analysis shows rise to global demand. Leveraging digital common characteristics amongst the 100 companies, technologies and operating at super-fast speed, the including clear and coherent business strategies and management accountant can help the small players close performance monitoring. This performance become giants. monitoring is perhaps the backbone of the management accountant’s work, as it helps to inform Finance professionals play a more prominent role new strategies while also ensuring the business is in the strategy and future outlook of today’s on track to achieve targets and financial aims. businesses, and they will be driving these companies towards their continued growth and global Professor Atherton says: “An additional feature seen aspirations. Therefore, for the companies who want across these companies is that they have built very to become future giants, they should consider how strong foundations in their domestic market, in some to effectively utilise management accounting to cases a dominant position, which acts as a solid achieve the goals for growth, and look beyond the launch pad for going global. “We are now seeing domestic market. They need to ensure their finance them developing business models to grow into as professionals and management accountants are other markets. Around one-third of these giants in connected to other parts of the business, and that waiting are making their mark on the global stage. they help the business models create value and Yet, even those that have concentrated on their local sustain competitive advantage.

T

A key element of Chinese business success is the management and communication of business information – from financial data to growth projections. These successful companies have already harnessed finance, technology, design and consumer understanding to grow and identify new markets and new opportunities which have taken them far beyond China’s borders.

Central to all this is the financial and management data that underpins and supports a business’s strategy. It is this management information which can help to define the future trajectory of the organisation and help with planning.

It therefore stands to reason that the role of the management accountant in this growth story cannot be underestimated. Their role is interconnected with all other parts of the business, from human resources to marketing. They are part of the secret to success and they are playing a key role in helping the next generation of Chinese companies to gear up for success.

In a new ACCA report called China’s Next 100 Global Giants, the author, Professor Andrew Atherton, deputy vice chancellor at Lancaster University, identifies the next 100 companies in China which are set to become big players on the global stage.

The report asserts that this next wave of global business giants will be ‘household names’ in the next three to five years.

Top of this 100 index is Hengtong Optic-Electric, an electronics company in Suzhou. China’s growing banking sector also features prominently in the

The report says that these four companies along with all those in the top 100 have the right mix of characteristics to emerge as global giants from across different regions and a range of sectors.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt

markets within China are showing immense growth and the expectation is they will appear in other markets within the next three to five years.”

Banks going global?

The report also looks in detail at China’s ‘middle six’ banks which are rapidly growing and are already among the world’s largest, becoming increasingly engaged in international markets. These six banks - Industrial Bank; China CITIC Bank; China Minsheng Bank; Shanghai Pudong Development Bank; Hua Xia Bank and Ping An Bank - are critical to the other businesses that have been identified as China’s next 100 global giants, because they have tended to fund those types of emerging enterprises, and are dynamic funders of future economic growth.

Business Hall of Fame Inductees 2014 Raymond Edwin Dieffenthaller RAYMOND EDWIN DIEFFENTHALLER (1901-1990) loved the art of business more than the scent of money, and treasured people more than profits. Gifted with a gregarious personality, Ray, as he was fondly called, had the self-confidence needed to live life on one’s own terms. Following the death of his mother Ena during childbirth at home in Woodbrook, just one day short of his 16th birthday, and because his father, Arthur, “did not realise his responsibilities fully”, he and his brother Sydney left school to look after their siblings. Ray became a salesman at the Bonanza dry goods store on Frederick Street; within three years, his phenomenal salesmanship earned him enough commissions to move his income from 20 shillings $40 a month.

née Beaubrun now gave him a partner in life and work. Together, they raised seven children: Rawlinson, Ralph, Sheila, Marion “Betty”, John, who sadly passed away at 17; Claire and George. Ray’s journey to the highest echelons of business was built on a rare combination of empathy, integrity and business acumen. No client or business detail was ever too minor for his personal attention; no contract could bind him as firmly as his word. Indeed, this was the case in January 1941 when he sat down with businessmen Harold and Halliburton Tucker and L.A. “Frenchie” Thomas and hammered out an unwritten contract as partners in a new business enterprise, Hardware and Oilfield Equipment Company Limited (HOECO).

In 1920, he left Bonanza for a job in south Trinidad where he would eventually carve his name into business history. Ray moved to Taylor and Company but within two years, the business had collapsed along with its guarantor’s fortunes, and was acquired by a new consortium of interests operating as Hardware and Electric Supplies Limited. By 1933, in the midst of an economic depression which would later explode into the labour riots of 1937, Ray was appointed Manager, becoming the first person of colour in the San Fernando business community to hold such a senior position. Marriage to Rachel Louise

For the next 49 years until his retirement, Ray captained HOECO from the office of Managing Director, steering it through the tides of boom and bust and navigating it skillfully between the shoals of competition and the rocks of state policy. Even with the long hours and hard work, Ray managed to combine a rich social life with a network of enduring friendships which included some of the most influential men of his time. He had a great love for horse racing and was a founding member of Union Park Race Club. In civic activity, Ray was a founding member of the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and

Commerce, and the Chest and Heart Association.

As a committed Roman Catholic, he donated willingly to Catholic charities and spearheaded the renovation of Archbishop’s House. In business, he served on the boards of Barclays Bank and its successor Republic Bank, Trinidad Cement Limited, Colonial Life Insurance Company Limited and the Co-operative Bank, among others. In 1978, Ray’s contribution to business and society received national recognition when he was conferred with the Chaconia Medal Gold.

In the recessionary conditions of the ’80s, Ray’s prudent and imaginative management helped HOECO to weather the storm. By 1983, with the succession line insecure, the shareholders took the decision to sell the company to the Ansa McAl Group.

For five years, Ray stayed on as Managing Director, continuing to grow the company. In 1985, this towering figure was honoured as “Man of the Decade”.

He retired from HOECO in 1989 but before leaving, he altered his Will to give his faithful staff what he had planned to bequeath to them in death. His grandson Michael succeeded him as Managing Director. On 26 January 1990, three days after his 89th birthday, Raymond, the “Grand Old Man of San Fernando” passed away, leaving behind the legacy of a pioneer.

Michael Kevin Mansoor MICHAEL KEVIN MANSOOR (1947 – 2014) Born of a Syrian father and Trinidadian mother, Michael Kevin Mansoor rose to the apex of high finance and business.

Attending Barataria R.C Boys, the Mansoors’ life was one of struggle and focused ambition. Michael was awarded a College Exhibition to St Mary’s College, Port of Spain, where in 1966, he won an Open Island Scholarship in Languages, paving the way for State-funded higher education abroad.

After graduating, a one-year internship at the accounting firm, Fitzpatrick Graham & Co (now EY) marked his future career. So impressed was management with the young articled clerk, that they arranged to send him to accounting giant Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG), Canada, to do the five-year intensive Chartered Accountant of Ontario (CA) programme. When the promise of post-graduate training was added, the offer became irresistible.

Two years later, Michael returned home and joined Pannell Kerr Foster where, in 1976, he was elevated to partner in charge of the audit, training and financial consultancy. These years helped him master the business terrain. He continued to work as a partner

at Ernst and Young until 1990, when he saw the opportunity to become a Director and Chief Finance Officer of the Ansa McAl Group. With his professional stature on the ascent, Michael was invited by then President Ellis Clarke, to join the ranks of Independent Senators in the Parliament. His twoterm foray into public service stood among the most cherished and important periods of his professional life. Michael’s expertise in finance was an important contribution to debates on such matters as the new Value Added Tax.

to a 13-year chairmanship of the Council of the St. Augustine Campus, University of the West Indies.

Michael moved to Barbados in 1998, taking the role of President/CEO of CIBC West Indies Holding, which held the retail banking operations of CIBC across the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean. In 2002, he tackled the herculean task of launching the first regional bank to be located in the Caribbean.

On 14 October 2014, First Caribbean International bank was launched and has since become the largest regionally-listed bank in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. Michael became Group In 1993, Michael became Group Managing Director Chairman leading operations in 17 countries of the of Ansa McAl. During the eight years there, his region. energies were consumed by a mix of challenges as he stabilised, rebuilt and expanded the On 31 October 2013, with the bank solidly on its conglomerate, while carrying significant public sector feet and his name adorning the newly-christened and civic responsibilities. By the time Michael left Michael Mansoor Building, First Caribbean’s Ansa McAl, the Group was on a solid footing and Barbados headquarters, he said goodbye to the well-poised for further growth. bank he helped build and returned home to Trinidad.

Making the journey with him was his wife Maureen, Alongside his work at Ansa McAl, Michael served the love of his life since the days they lived nextfor three years as President of the Institute of door to each other, growing up in Barataria.

Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago. In In 2012, Michael’s contribution to the business of 1996, he began a two-year stint as Chairman of the University communities was recognised by the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission and University of the West Indies with the conferring of Powergen Trinidad and Tobago Limited, in addition an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws (LLD).

Contact • Vol.14 No.4 2014

55

56

Chamber P3 Consulting P3 Consulting believes that Purpose, manifested through Passion, results in Profit, but recognizes that the journey may be challenging for some business owners. We understand our customers’ needs, and are already at the forefront of business consulting for Micro, Small and Medium businesses with these three P’s as the foundation of our operations.

your business is a Business Plan. Whether you are just starting or looking to expand your existing business, having a business plan serves as critical guide. Our group at P3 Consulting will help you navigate the steps from defining your purpose, feasibility study, identifying the target market to conducting marketing research, towards the creation of a successful Business Plan and ultimately a successful business.

While owning a business is a dream for many, its success can be a daunting task. Enter P3 • Increased Sales through Sustainable Competitive Advantages Consulting to bridge the gap and turn your The dynamic, global environment is harsh dream into your reality. Our highly qualified on young businesses and forces staff offers a hands-on approach to sustainable entrepreneurs to think about sustainable growth by training, coaching and guiding, competitive advantage strategies even small and medium business owners to design before the first product or service enters start-up business plans, develop and implement the market. P3 recognizes this and our competitive advantage strategies, enhance experts will work with clients in various customer satisfaction through superior areas including Strong Research and customer service and effective relationship Innovation, Branding, and Superior management.

Customer Support.

We specialize in: • Customer Service Management • Business Plan Writing One of the most important documents for Quality customer service is crucial to the

survival of any business. It should be at the core of any business operations. P3 Consulting ensures that the quality component is embedded in the objectives of your business and is not just a front office operation. Essentially, our professional team will equip you with the necessary tools to provide consistent, quality customer service to your valued customers throughout the life cycle of your products and services.

To continue our tradition of a holistic approach, we also offer additional services listed below: • • • • •

Small Business Marketing Human Resource Services Research Services Tender Preparation Criminology Consultation

Our dedicated team consistently provides cutting-edge, unique, survival and auxiliary strategies to our Micro, Small and Medium customers.

Advertisers ACCA

Pg 2

Arrive Alive

Pg 27

Massy Technologies

Pg 21

BEI International Limited

Pg 29

Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago

Pg 41

Boss

Pg 23

PWC

Pg 25

Caribbean Heart Care Medcorp Ltd.

Pg 6

RBC Royal Bank

Pg 4

Colfire

Pg 7

Republic Bank

Pg 13

Columbus Business Solutions

Pg 35

Repsol

Pg 15

ExporTT

Pg 47

Southern Sales & Service Co. Ltd (Optima)

Kyocera Document Solutions

Pg 9

Southern Sales Car Rental Division

Guardian Group

Pg 17

Telecommunications Authority of

JG Design Caribbean

Pg 53

Trinidad and Tobago

Laparkan

Pg 11

The National Insurance Board of

Lexmark

Outside Back Cover

MBM

Pg 39

Massy Finance

Pg 31

Massy Motors

Inside Back

Inside Front Pg 19

Pg 51

Trinidad and Tobago

Pg 12

UWI

Pg 49

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce • www.chamber.org.tt