Industry
From The Report: Trinidad & Tobago 2017
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Trinidad and Tobago’s manufacturing sector is the largest in the English-speaking Caribbean. In 2016 it was expected to represent 7.8% of overall GDP, with total output worth an estimated TT$8.29bn ($1.2bn), according to government estimates. This made it the third-largest sector of the economy after the energy and services industries. Approximately 47,700 people, or 7.3% of the total active labour force, are employed in manufacturing. The country holds several competitive advantages, including cheap electricity and natural gas, two international ports that are well served by shipping lines, good availability of local or imported raw materials, a captive domestic market and relatively easy access to regional markets through trade agreements.

This chapter contains an interview with Dominic Hadeed, Managing Director, Blue Waters Products.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Positioned to grow: The twin-island republic is bolstering non-energy manufacturing exports and looking to new markets
OBG
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Trinidad and Tobago’s manufacturing sector is the largest in the English-speaking Caribbean. In 2016 it was expected to represent 7.8% of total GDP, with total output worth an estimated TT$8.29bn ($1.2bn), according to the government’s estimates in the “Review of the Economy 2016”. This made it the third-largest sector of the economy after the energy and services industries. Approximately 47,700 people, or 7.3% of the total active labour force, are employed in manufacturing. Structure…

Overview

Positioned to grow: The twin-island republic is bolstering non-energy manufacturing exports and looking to new markets
OBG
plus

Trinidad and Tobago’s manufacturing sector is the largest in the English-speaking Caribbean. In 2016 it was expected to represent 7.8% of total GDP, with total output worth an estimated TT$8.29bn ($1.2bn), according to the government’s estimates in the “Review of the Economy 2016”. This made it the third-largest sector of the economy after the energy and services industries. Approximately 47,700 people, or 7.3% of the total active labour force, are employed in manufacturing. Structure…

Interview

Primed for growth: Dominic Hadeed, Managing Director, Blue Waters Products, on developing entrepreneurship, agricultural opportunities and export markets
OBG
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Interview: Dominic Hadeed To what extent has the environment for entrepreneurs improved over time? DOMINIC HADEED: It is far more vibrant than it was 20 years ago. Schools and universities are supporting and pushing entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship is starting to enter popular consciousness through the press, and mediums such as Planting Seeds, a local television show promoting budding innovators in business. We are now beginning to see wide recognition that the new growth engines for the…

Analysis

Reassessing priorities: Increasing non-energy exports is a central aim
OBG
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The slump in oil and gas prices that began in late-2014 has had a significant downward impact on Trinidad and Tobago’s export earnings, and has revived interest in the non-energy export sector as a potential area for diversification, which could allow the country to benefit from new foreign currency revenue. While there has been progress in identifying products and markets for export growth, success will require overcoming a number of prevailing obstacles. “A very important point to note…

Analysis

Unexplored potential: Growth in agro-processing could help to lower food imports
OBG
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Increased agro-processing is a potential solution to a key challenge currently facing Trinidad and Tobago: the long-term decline of its agricultural sector, which has led the country to spend increasingly scarce foreign exchange on rising food imports. Decline In Production While in the 19th and early 20th century the twin-island republic was essentially a sugar-based commodity-exporting economy, the discovery and expansion of oil and gas reserves led to a long-term decline in agriculture.…