With T&T's revenue projections for 2015 revised downward due to a slump in oil and gas prices, Trade Minister Vasant Bharath has told principals of the fashion industry, wealth creation must be their priority. Now that the T&T Creative Industries Company (CreativeTT) has been established with a mandate to stimulate and facilitate business and export activities in the sector, the minister said diversification, through fashion and design must take centre stage.
Speaking at ModeTT, a fashion showcase conceptualised and executed by FashionTT, a subsidiary of CreativeTT, Bharath said it was Government's belief that the creative sector has the capacity to become one of the most important sectors of the economy in terms of investment, revenue, trade and employment generation.
"We in T&T have long been recognised as a leader in the fashion industry in the Caribbean. This reputation is built on a tradition that includes skilled tailors, seamstresses and patternmakers. Our fashion industry generates in excess of US$4 million annually and employs more than 11,000 persons directly or indirectly.
Our capital city of Port of Spain is positioned as a fashion district and the fashion capital of the Caribbean since the city has a thriving retail district and the only cloth district in the region which spans numerous locations between Frederick and Charlotte Streets," he said.
Bharath added: "Our fashion industry is diverse and has linkages to other sectors including beauty, cosmetics and perfume manufacturing, model management, fashion and image consulting, retail, fashion photography, beauty culture and event management. There are also cross-sector linkages between the local fashion industry and the entertainment and tourism industry.
The minister said a programme implemented by the state, Red tape to Red Carpet, was being used to signal to investors significant improvements in doing business locally. These include development of a single electronic window, TTBizLink, to enhance trade facilitation, allowing traders and business people to obtain on-line trade permits and licences, certificates of origin, work permits, fiscal incentives and import duty concessions and to register their businesses.
Through these improvements, T&T was ranked among the top ten improvers in the world in the 2015 Doing Business Report which placed this country back in leadership position in the region, according the World Bank, he said.
"In an effort to steer the economy of T&T away from its over reliance on revenues generated within the energy industry, the Government of the Republic of T&T has been vigorously supporting alternative paths to economic growth and development. The absence of monopolies on innovation and imagination throughout the world today has led to a phenomenon where industries with their roots in culture and creativity are increasingly becoming an important source of jobs and wealth creation," Bharath said.
"Pillar five of Government's Medium Term Policy Framework speaks to a more diversified, knowledge intensive economy�building on the native genius of our people. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, as the arm of the Government with responsibility for industry, has been tasked with co-ordinating trade, business and investment processes that will positively impact the development of three key subsectors of the creative industry, namely film, fashion and music."