Trade Minister Vasant Bharath says events like the Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF) will help diversify T&T's economy."It is the reason we are spending so much time with forums like the CIF and it is the reason why the prime minster and other ministers have been visiting other countries and as you know we came back from Canada recently and there will be a huge contingent coming from Canada for the CIF and the Trade and Investment Convention (TIC). We know from past experience that we must diversify the economy from oil and gas to prevent these peaks and troughs," he said.
At the launch of the CIF 2013 at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, Bharath responded to questions from reporters about the Central Bank's forecast of a 2.5 per cent economic growth for T&T. He said the government has turned the economy around."When this government came into office the growth rate was at negative three per cent. We have taken that and now the Central Bank is predicting 2.5 per cent. Our macro economic fundamentals are very strong. We have to be confident we can achieve it," he said.
Also commenting on the Central Bank's projections was economist Indera Sagewan-Alli who told the T&T Guardian that low gas prices in the future and the US focusing on its own energy needs could impact heavily on this country's energy reliant economy."However, the projection for the price of T&T's gas remains low going forward, and of greater worry, even at this all-time low price, less than US$3 per MMBTU compared to US$13 per MMBTU in 2007. Moreover, the United States is now a net supplier of gas and is on an aggressive drive to re-attract its multinationals home. What then are the implications for foreign investment to T&T's traditional energy sector? And how will this affect our growth projections?" she asked.
Compounding the problem, she said, is that T&T's economy is not diversified.
"Agriculture for food security and export has been identified as a new growth sector well over eight years now even during the hey day of the post 2008 crisis, yet it continues to contribute less than half of one per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," she said.She added although a lot of taxpayers' money has been pumped into other areas, the country is yet to see the benefits."The other growth sectors like creative industries, maritime to mention just two, while there has been a lot of taxpayers' money pumped into them and institutional arrangements established, the absence of cohesive competitiveness strategies based on robust analysis is absent," Sagewan-Alli said.
