Former United States Ambassador to T&T Sally Cowal says the American Chamber of Commerce of T&T (AmCham) must be credited for its contribution to this country's economic fortunes over the last two decades. Speaking at the group's 20th Anniversary Gala Dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Saturday night, Cowal said: "The American Chamber of Commerce of T&T has fundamentally altered the economic and political reality and the landscape of T&T in a positive way.
"Twenty years ago, T&T was a closed shop. There were a few businesses going back to colonial times. There were a few legacy oil companies pumping out and sending out a diminishing number of barrels of heavy crude oil that was less and less wanted in the world. There were a lot of State-owned enterprises providing jobs for the boys but little else."
Cowal recalled that during her time as the US ambassador in T&T in the early 90s, she shopped at a major supermarket and many days basic items such as breakfast cereal and light bulbs were in short supply. She said when she visited that supermarket over the weekend, she was pleased to see well-stocked shelves.
"The import substitution model which had seemed so promising when it was created in the 1970s had run out of gas by the 1990's and that was the end of the road. "While it was not just AmCham that made the difference, without its existence, the fundamental tenets of this economy might never have changed, or changed too slowly to keep up with digital and interconnected world," she said.
"I believe it is true about countries as (former US President) Ronald Reagan once said about people – that there's a spark in us all, if struck at just the right time, it makes a different kind of person and a different kind of future." Cowal said two decades after she's convened the meeting with business leaders which gave birth to AmCham, she is convinced the organisation was a spark struck at the right time.
"What's changed in these 20 years is that a place that was essentially a closed shop has changed to one, thanks to your work, which is open for business," she said. Saturday's function was attended by Hugh Howard, president AmCham T&T; Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine and US Ambassador Beatrice Wilkinson Welters, as well as captains of industry.
