TT PM defends position on Caricom

MIAMI, USA (CMC) — Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad Bissessar yesterday defended her administration's new position regarding its interaction with Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries while insisting that Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to the regional integration movement.

Addressing a business luncheon in Miami, the newly elected prime minister reminded the gathering that at last week's Caricom summit in Jamaica, she had signalled that there was going to be a change in the way the new Trinidad and Tobago administration interacted with its Caricom counterparts.

"I indicated that Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to widening and deepening the regional integration process within the Caribbean Community.

"However as an organisation in its 37th year of existence, Caricom must take a critical look at the challenges which it faces from the external environment, and their impact on regional development.

"In some quarters it was felt that Trinidad and Tobago had adopted a hard-line approach to funding certain projects and programmes; but we believed that previous promises perpetuated dependencies rather than promoting accountability, responsibility and independence," she told the business leaders assembled here.

The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister had told her regional colleagues that there was need for greater accountability and transparency in the Petroleum Fund and the Caricom Development Fund (CDF) - both of which benefit tremendously from funding provided by the oil-rich twin island republic.

In addition, she said "we just cannot continue to do things in that way, and each time there is a shortfall we cannot continue like Trinidad and Tobago is an ATM card ... you come in you put the card there and you come back out with cash. It just cannot happen anymore".

Prime Minister Persad Bissessar told those gathered at the luncheon that she was certain they understood the need for financial constraint and prudence in harsh economic times.

"Instead of expanding plant, hiring new people and adding more product lines, many stick with what you have and trust necessary will flow from these lines. Others may take the bold step to diversify, develop new lines or expand into a new market, yet nothing is done without risk analysis and astute projections.

"So too the People's Partnership Government of Trinidad and Tobago has assessed its stance on Caricom relations and also our ability to provide a political, social and economic environment that would mutually benefit investors and our twin-island Republic."

Prime Minister Persad Bissessar said that in this regard, her administration is laying out an approach which will involve a network of aggressive trade and business representation in key external markets, "...as we seek to facilitate enterprises desirous of conducting business in Trinidad and Tobago.

"We are also improving the efficiency of the domestic business environment through the implementation of a single electronic window (that) will speed up approvals and reduce costs by doing business through e-services. We believe that is absolutely essential to quickly facilitate the entry and establishment of new businesses."

She acknowledged that the global economic downturn brought into sharp focus the interconnectedness of world economies, and that the economies of small Caribbean countries are quite easily affected by adverse conditions.

But the prime minister said she was challenging the business leaders "to allow that convergence of economies, with respect to Trinidad and Tobago, to be one which promotes prosperity, facilitates innovation, creates wealth and improves the standard of living for all our citizens.

"Our interest is in building a solid public/private partnership as we move forward with our plans for the people of Trinidad and Tobago, as this is integral to our strategy for the development of our country. As we roll out our plans there is ample room for both domestic capital and international capital. We therefore encourage international capital as a key input into the rebuilding of our economy," she added.