Port of Spain, Trinidad — Enhancing the country’s competitiveness and expanding exports are crucial for improving the economic welfare of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, said minister of trade, industry, investment and communications, Vasant Bharath during his feature address at the media launch of exporTT’s Inward Buyers’ Mission on Monday in Port-of-Spain.
Bharath, who is also the United National Congress (UNC) candidate for the St Joseph constituency in the September 7 general elections, said that “for the first time since 2001, we now have a trade policy and strategy for the period 2013-2017”, the overarching goal of which is to ensure that the benefits of international trade contribute to the socio-economic development of Trinidad and Tobago.
This will be achieved by expanding and diversifying production, exports (goods and services) and markets, he explained.
He noted that export, in hosting its second Annual Inward Buyers’ Mission, is fulfilling its mandate of expanding market access for local businesses to become export-ready.
“Arising out of InBuyTT 2014, our local exporters have had orders to date totalling US$153,000, with an estimate of over a quarter million US dollars in export orders by the end of September, 2015,” he pointed out.
Robert Tang Yuk, chairman, exporTT Limited described the Inward Buyers’ Mission 2015 as ‘‘laser-focused’’ and in keeping with its mandate of developing a sustainable and diversified export sector.
He added that this mandate continues to be achieved through “providing market access; building export capacity; creating an export enabling environment; fostering product/service differentiation; and building an organisation fit with a purpose”.
The Inward Buyers’ Mission 2015 is scheduled to take place on October 14-16, 2015. Its main objective is to provide an export platform for local exporters to promote their products, meet international buyers and deepen penetration of traditional markets.