The T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Champions of Business Awards are meant to inspire future entrepreneurs, CEO Gabrial Faria said on Thursday evening.
“The young businesses you see there, 20 years from now are going to be the Derek Chins of the world, the Rupert Indars of the world. It provides some level of satisfaction that their peers recognise the contribution that they have made.
“Every single business person that we have spoken to over the past month has talked about how they have contributed, donated and they are not putting it in the media. When you look at Trinidad and Tobago’s businesses you see people who genuinely care about the country and they want to help a lot of the small businesses,” he said.
Faria, who was interviewed at the Champions of Business Awards ceremony at the National Academy for Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain, said the T&T Chamber also has a Business Insights Programme to train business people.
He explained: “We have to transform the economy. We can no longer sit down and hope that energy is our future. This creates a famework that someone can aspire to, someone can say that they are recognised and contributed positively.”
Referring to MovieTowne owner Derek Chin who was inducted into the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce Hall of Fame at the function, Faria added: “People know about Derek and he has built a business. I sold him his first air condition unit 30 years ago. I used to sell air condition units.
“When you look at where he has come from, a little game store to what he is now in Guyana and elsewhere, it sends shivers up your spine. Look at Rupart Indar, a man who gives surgeries to people and he does not publicize it.
“This is necessary because it creates an environment that people can feel recognised among their peers. We are very proud when we look at these young businesses. WiPay is a business that is changing the landscape. WiPay 20 years from now can be Google.”