Regulation of the real estate sector is top priority for the new president of the Association of Real Estate Agents of T&T (AREA), Sally Singh. For that reason, she said, it is the responsibility of stakeholders to promote the Real Estate Professional Bill 2015.
"We must put our heads together and promote the legislative framework which is at its final stage soon to present to the Minister of Trade. We all need to take example and lead the charge," she said when she spoke at an AREA seminar on Best Practices for Real Estate 2015 at Queen's Hall, St Ann's, yesterday.
Keynote speaker at the event, economist Dr Roger Hosein, said he expected the T&T economy to grow by two per cent but he cautioned the Government to slow down on spending."For the period 2015 and 2020 I find it difficult to see a growth rate of above two per cent."This economy is at a new normal. It is really important that responsible people like yourselves take that to the various places that you operate so we will not require unreasonable demand expectation," he said.
He said the practice of fiscal interventions by successive governments in this country needs to stop. This year, he said, the economy is headed into a precarious position since more workers are needed."About 300,000 more workers (will be needed) between now and 2030 if we are to increase gross domestic product (GDP) by 20 per cent. We need to start the process of thinking where will we get those workers from. My knee jerk reaction is to try to increase the retirement age," he said.
Hosein said the Cepep programme is good representation of "where we went wrong."Had they been constructed, he added, E-teck parks would have provided better opportunities for long-term employment.The economic called for further diversification of T&T's economy, saying "pressure should be put on the political parties by members of the public" to state their plans are for diversification.
