Major economic events in TT this week

TRINIDAD AND Tobago will host two major economic events this week — the 4th Caribbean Euromoney/Latin Finance Caribbean Investment Forum and the 34th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The Euromoney Conference, which will be held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, St Ann’s, on Wednesday and Thursday, is expected to provide a platform for leaders of the region to meet with their counterparts and selected foreign investors to determine the economic direction of the Caribbean.

This is the first year Trinidad and Tobago is hosting this event, which is considered to be the leading investment and financial conference in the region. The first and second forums were held in Jamaica in 2001 and 2002 and the third was held in the Dominican Republic last year.
The leaders who take part in this forum are drawn from politics, business, finance, academia and the media. It is an independent event financed and supported by the region’s public and private sectors. It is not sponsored by any outside agency or government and is not driven by any external agenda. The agenda is specifically directed to the demands of the region.

The objectives of the 2004 Caribbean Investment Forum are to build awareness of the Caribbean as a regional economic entity and to promote the image of the region as a sound destination for foreign capital; to demonstrate to a regional and international audience the opportunities available for profitable direct and portfolio investment, to define how political and economic trends at global, regional and national levels will affect development, government, finance, investment and trade in the Caribbean; to focus on the financing of development and investment and to show the region’s governments, companies and financial institutions how to work with the international markets in a timely and efficient manner; and to determine the strategic direction of the key economic sectors of the Caribbean, namely hydrocarbons, finance, tourism, IT and infrastructure. From today to Friday, Tobago will be the venue for the 34th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). Matters to be discussed during the conference include a general capital increase, expansion of the membership of the CDB and replenishment of the Bank’s Special Development Fund.

Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, is expected to open the ceremony at the Hilton Tobago, along with Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Orville London. CDB President Dr Compton Bourne will deliver the keynote address. The Governor’s meeting will be preceded by a series of other meetings, beginning with a meeting of the CDB’s Board of Directors today. The 21st Annual meeting of Contributors to CDB’s Special Development Fund takes place tomorrow morning, followed by a discussion session for Governors on “Agriculture and Rural Development.” Since its inception in 1970, the CDB has financed several important development projects in TT, including provision of US $7.5 million for technological equipment for the TT Institute of Technology and US $66 million for extension of the Solomon Hochoy Highway from Tarouba to the Cipero Interchange.