Country Profile
From The Report: Trinidad & Tobago 2016
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Trinidad and Tobago stands out in the Caribbean and the Americas as a comparatively wealthy, hydrocarbons-based economy with rich and diverse cultural traditions and a robust democratic system. The twin-island country has a population of 1.35m people and a per capita GDP that places the country among the wealthiest in the Americas, behind the US and Canada, and ahead of most Caribbean and Latin American countries. T&T’s abundant oil and gas reserves have driven this prosperity, and have underpinned its strong economic growth rate. While excessive reliance on the oil and gas sector is problematic at times of low international hydrocarbons prices, the country has managed to achieve a degree of diversification into other sectors such as financial services, tourism and manufacturing.

This chapter contains interviews with Prime Minister Keith Rowley and Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Republic of Ghana.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Democratic heritage: A new government moves to diversify the economy and unify the electorate
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Trinidad and Tobago stands out in the Caribbean and the Americas as a comparatively wealthy, hydrocarbons-based economy with rich and diverse cultural traditions and a robust democratic system. The twin-island country has a population of 1.35m people, a GDP of $35.2bn and a GDP per capita of $26,220, both calculated on a purchasing power parity basis in 2013, according to the World Bank. This level of per capita GDP places the country among the wealthiest in the Americas, behind the US and Canada,…

Interview

Coming together: OBG talks to Prime Minister Keith Rowley
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Interview:Prime Minister Keith Rowley How will the government invest the $1.5bn from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) during the 2016-17 period? KEITH ROWLEY: The fund is meant to ensure that we have budgetary provisions for a capital programme, because notwithstanding our revenue restrictions and the necessity to reduce expenditure, the economy requires capital expenditure. The programme largely focuses on expanding and supporting the national infrastructure, thereby sustaining…

Interview

Mutually beneficial: OBG talks to Hanna Tetteh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Republic of Ghana
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Interview: Hanna Tetteh In what areas do you see bilateral agreements unfolding as Trinidad and Tobago and Ghana deepen political and economic ties? HANNA TETTEH: The conversation between T&T and Ghana has been under way in some depth since 2010. T&T had expressed interest in partnering with Ghana and specifically sharing their expertise in developing our gas resources, given the twin-island nation’s long history in this field. Some investment proposals were made at the time, without…

Overview

Idyllic islands: A rich and vibrant culture sustained by hydrocarbons resources looks to the future
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Comparatively wealthy and with some degree of economic diversification in the finance, manufacturing and transport sectors, Trinidad and Tobago is the largest Caribbean oil producer and the world’s sixth-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). As in many other hydrocarbons-based economies, the local energy sector was severely affected by the sustained drop in oil and gas prices since mid-2014, driving the economy to contract by 2% in 2015. T&T has an ethnically diverse population,…