Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday said that investor confidence in T&T is intact, with major energy companies expressing their commitment to strengthening their ties with the country.
In the feature address at the sod turning ceremony for the $6.3 billion Caribbean Gas Chemical Ltd (CGCL) plant at the Union Industrial Estate, La Brea, she said the country's investment climate is considered to be "consistently strong" and pointed out that the second largest investment in the country under her tenure, the $7.5 billion Solomon Hochoy Highway extension project, takes the top spot.
"In the last four years confidence in our economy and the energy sector has been expressed by major international players, including BP, BG, BHP and Shell. Last April, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell visited this country after the historic acquisition of BG Group and said that Shell was committed to deepening and growing its position in this country based on the investment climate which he saw as being very consistent and very strong.
"It is this very consistent and very strong investment climate that has attracted these companies from Japan. Japan is the world's third largest economy and a world leader in technology. T&T can therefore only benefit from this relationship with the Japanese companies here today," Persad-Bissessar said.
"Most significantly, it will mark the genesis of a new industrial estate which is already complimented by the presence next door of the TGU power plant. The decision by the three Japanese companies here today–Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries–to make this large investment in a country on the other side of the world is a testament to the confidence that these companies have in this country."
Persad-Bissessar said the project will create 2000 jobs at peak construction and will benefit local contractors and energy service companies. Upon completion, it will permanently employ 180 workers in high paying positions.
She said labour, lease rentals, port charges, sale of water and electricity for the project will generate $2.2 billion for the local economy while foreign exchange earnings in the first 15 years are estimated at US $4 billion. She said additional revenue will be earned through the sale of natural gas to the project, corporation tax and dividends that will be paid to NGC.
Finance Minister Larry Howai said the project is the third chapter in T&T's natural gas based industrialisation, following development of Point Lisas in the mid 1970s and the Atlantic natural gas plant in the mid 1990s. He said despite the global energy crisis, T&T has been continuously attracting foreign direct investments, which are expected to double by 2017.
About the project
When completed, the CGCL facility will convert natural gas to petrochemicals for production of methanol and dimethyl-ether.
It is being built by a consortium of companies, including the Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Gas Chemicals, Massy Holdings Ltd and Integrated Chemical Company Ltd (ICCL) and the National Gas Company.
The project stemmed from the 2012 visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the officials from the Mitsubishi Corporation and is being financed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, that country's largest bank.