Govt involved in critical FTAA talks

TRADE LIBERALISATION has increased competition in Trinidad and Tobago in the domestic financial sector and this has  resulted in fierce challenges in the business community. As such the Government of the country is involved in serious and critical negotiations under the FTAA and WTO at the moment on the subject,  according to Christine Sahadeo, Minister in the Ministry of Finance. She said so while delivering the feature address at the formal opening of the fourth Branch of Scotiabank in Chaguanas, located at Price Plaza, on Tuesday evening. On the formal openig of the Branch, the Minister said, “This is the 24th Branch of Scotiabank in the country and this is ample testimony of the confidence of the Bank’s Board of Directors in our economy and in particular your continued commitment to the development of the financial sector in Trinidad and Tobago.”

She said that Scotiabank had a “successful association with the people of Trinidad and Tobago over the past 49 years and you could not have reched this milestone without adhering to sound banking practices and being sensitive and responsive to the changing economic conditions and at the same time being creative and innovative in serving the people of the country.” She was sure that Scotiabank had not lost sight of their role in the development of the community as was evidenced by their involvement in projects like Women Against Breast Cancer; Kiddy’s  Cricket, the Primary Schools Cricket League and the Adopt a School Programme. The Minister noted that “Chaguanas is a dynamic community that has grown substantially over the last few years and because of its strong entrepreneurial spirit the Borough has the potential for sustaining an even more rapid rate of expansion in the future, particularly among the small and medum-sized enterprises.” “Commercial Banks have a distinct, important and critical role to play in increasing levels of savings and investment and facilitating the diversification of the economic base of the country while providing employment for thousands of persons,” the Minister stressed.

She noted that “we are living in a fast-paced changing world and there are several forces impacting the development of the financial services industry worldwide,” The Minister was convinced that the “onset of liberalisation will see the entry of foreign providers and this would bring about challenges associated with the provision of cross border services and in fact the very survival of our domestic financial institutions will depend to a large extent on our ability to be internationally competitive. “We must not lose sight though of the opportunities which will be created for local providers that are ready to take advantage of these opportunities,” she added. The Minister emphasised that with the “vision of my Government to make Trinidad and Tobago the finanfial hub of the Caribbean we need to capitalise on the distinct advantage that we possess in that we have an international reputation of maintaining a safe and sound financial system, a modern telecommunications system, a good network and mix of indigenous and international financial institutions and we operate in a similar time-zone with one of the major financial capitals of the world.”