These are but five suggestions which could assist in our drive to grow out of our current recessionary circumstances:
Ship repair facility: Extensive studies/research has already been done in respect to a ship repair facility at La Brea. This facility is well positioned to take advantage of the 100 per cent increase in container cargo coming out of the Panama's expanded canal in 2016. We already have Maersk and other large shipping companies willing to invest the US$5 billion required, and also become it's customers.
This business would generate yearly revenue of US$2 billion which allows govt to expand our revenue base and increase foreign currency inflows, while assisting in diversifying the economy.
Tourism passport opportunity: One of the opportunities available for T&T to tap into is the flight of wealthy people fleeing "discomfort" in their own countries. In Europe there is now serious social dislocation due to the waves of Syrian refuges, and where people with significant disposable income want to relocate their families and their assets/bank balances. The same "discomfort" exists with the Chinese businessmen re their own country's implosion.
We can provide passports/residency/safe havens for their assets and wealth in T&T–as they are doing in Malta and now in St Lucia–for a fee of say US$300,000 per person. This is a very viable business model in other parts of the world, and our climate, beaches, and friendly people would give us an additional advantage over other destinations. This residency/tax haven opportunity can be implemented very quickly, for example, creating a special area by 400 acres of Clico lands in Tobago by designating this area a tax free heaven, allowing houses/apartments to be built which these fleeing refugees also have to invest in. This opportunity will lead to growth in real estate/construction activity and investments in business in our country.
Competitive advantage: We all know we have under utilised people in the Cepep/URP programmes who only work for three to four hours a day, and by channeling their unused time can help plant, maintain and harvest agricultural crops–short, medium, and long term–eg cocoa, coconuts etc. Additionally, we can even include the prisoners–under guard–in this process. This input from these three groups will allow us to produce our agricultural products cheaper, allowing us to expand our exports of these items thereby earning valuable foreign exchange, spreading more money throughout our system via additional salaries etc, while also reducing the food import bill.
Incentives: Given our current dire economic circumstances tax incentives should be given to all our manufactures. For example, you can give a more aggressive write off/depreciation of all equipment imported for either manufacturers or agricultural producers.
Then there can be reductions in corporate taxes only for items exported. There are a myriad number of other options to speed up investment in plant and equipment to facilitate increased export revenue, which will employ more people and earn more foreign exchange.
Negative interest rates: Japan, as well as several countries in Europe have their Central Banks charging negative interest rates for all funds the commercial banks have deposited at the Central Bank.
The reasoning is rather than just storing funds for the banks which are not being put to productive use eg loaned to business and entrepreneurs to expand or to start new business thereby creating more employment–instead, the Central Banks are charging the commercial banks interest (in other words penalising them) for leaving funds instead of turning this over/lending to others to generate revenue/create employment.
In T&T's case, the last I heard, the commercial banks had huge amounts of monies housed at the Central Bank doing absolutely nothing. Start to penalise them for this–charging negative interest rates–and you will see how fast business activity increases.
Roger Gordon,
Cascade