TIDCO pushes TT as alternative investment to Venezuela

Representatives of the Tourism and Industrial Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (TIDCO) recently visited neighbouring Venezuela to offer both foreign companies established in Venezuela as well as local Venezuelan companies an alternative investment location in Trinidad and Tobago.

Vishnu Dhanpaul, the Vice President of Trade and Investment at TIDCO, pointed out that while the political situation in Venezuela is impacting negatively on business in that country, Trinidad and Tobago is very attractive to Venezuelan business leaders due to its stable political environment, stable exchange rate, the absence of foreign exchange restrictions, competitive cost structures, proximity and therefore cost savings for relocations. During a four-day mission to Venezuela, TIDCO hosted two one-day seminars on ‘Doing Business in Trinidad and Tobago’. Eighty-seven companies attended a seminar held in Caracas while sixty-three companies attended a seminar hosted in Barcelona.

The seminars catered to the special interests of the non-energy and energy sectors in Venezuela with the seminar in Barcelona placing special emphasis on investment opportunities in the energy and petrochemical sectors. TIDCO has since been invited to host a similar seminar in Maracaibo, Venezuela, in June this year. These initiatives were supported by an increasing interest in Trinidad and Tobago as expressed by Venezuelan businesses both to the Trinidad and Tobago Embassy in Caracas and directly to TIDCO’s office in Port- of-Spain.