President of the T&T Manufacturers' Association (TTMA) Rolph Balgobin is calling for the agriculture sector to be boosted so that T&T can benefit from consistent high quality commercial food production.
Speaking ahead of a mid-term budget review by Finance Minister Colm Imbert on Friday, Balgobin said: "Agriculture has become a very high-tech field and incentives need to be in place to encourage the kind of capital investments that can make us strong in this sector."
His comments were made against the backdrop of recent Central Bank data which shows food inflation at 9.4 per cent for March, up from 4.5 per cent in January.
Balgobin said the TTMA's wish list for the mid-term review includes specific provisions for timely payment of value added tax (VAT), preferential purchasing of local goods and service in state procurements, as well as the use of local agricultural products for food and beverage at state functions and in the school feeding programme.
He said manufacturers would also like to see a "better supply of US currency for manufacturers who, through their production and export are either earning foreign exchange or saving it for the country."
Balgobin also called for establishment of trade facilitation offices at every foreign mission and for the EXIMbank to be recapitalised to provide increased support to manufacturers for purchase raw material. The TTMA president said the fuel subsidy should be one items cut from the national budget.
He added: "Taxes on high-end motor vehicles should be increased. Likewise the duty-free concession for public officials and Parliamentarians should be revised to encourage some level of tax to be paid, or to reduce the number of vehicles which can be purchased within the term of governments."