T&T needs to raise its level of productivity says Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Minister of Planning, Economic, Social Restructuring and Gender Affairs. "We need to raise the productivity level, we are not a productive country. We are not as productive a country as we need to be," he said. He was speaking on Wednesday at the 4th Biennial International Conference on Business, Banking and Finance at the Hilton Trinidad. "Are we a very productive country? No. Are we as bad as some other countries? No. Are we as good as those that are more developed? Not really. Look at Barbados and Costa Rica," he said. He said part of the problem of the low levels of productivity is the level of technological skills of the workforce.
"Part of it is the skill set is less than it needs to be. The level of technological sophistication is not as high as it should be. We need to begin to address those issues," he said. He also said many people in the workforce lacked basic education. "A report done about five or six years ago shows a significant proportion of our workforce did not have more than the equivalent of a primary school education when we really should be having at least two years, what they call junior college in the US," he said. He advised that small and medium enterprises needed to assist if the country wishes to raise productivity levels.
"Most enterprises in the world don't start big, they start with one person and they grow. You've got to give people a chance and show that they make a difference to be part of the economic and financial life," he said. He said because T&T was small, it is important that each person was skilled and marketable.
"If you have one underskilled person in a country of 1.3 million people it is too much. "If you have over one billion people like China and you lose one million people in the rush you don't feel it. "But if you have 1.3 million and you miss 100,000 then we are in a lot of trouble. We've got to ensure that every human being counts," he said.