The Ministry of Trade and Industry recently appointed a new board for the Trinidad and Tobago Free Zones Co Ltd (TTFZ). Governed by the Free Zones Act ch 81:07, the Free Zones Company's mandate is to promote, evaluate, facilitate, administer and control all free zones in Trinidad and Tobago and to approve enterprises to operate in the free zones. Instruments of appointment were presented to new chairman Kelly Bainey and board members at the ministry's head office in Nicholas Tower by Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz.
The new board members are Priya Ganness-Nanton, Rasheed Ali, Neville Blake, Deonarine Sarabjit, Dennis Scott, Darrell Edward Lou-Hing, Bryan Pedro, Cherry-Ann Bissondaye Rajkumar and William Lall Gaffar. In his remarks to the new board members, Minister Cadiz highlighted Free Zones' mission to attract both local and foreign investment and encouraged them to work towards boosting the country's exports while still maintaining standards.
He also noted that the US$50 million cap that was previously placed on investments within the free zone had since been removed and this in turn would encourage greater investment. The free zones programme, which is administered by the TTFZ, is designed to encourage local and foreign investment in export-driven projects that create jobs, develop skills, contribute to the reduction of the reliance on the energy sector and create external markets for products.