221 graduate from Roytec

TRINIDAD and Tobago is well positioned to be the Pan Caribbean Financial Centre given the strength of the local banking sector according to Helen Drayton, director, Group Human Resources at RBTT Bank. “We have an excellent base to become the Pan Caribbean Financial Centre, given advantages of ideal geographical location, good air links and a well-developed legal code,” said Drayton. She was speaking at Thursday night’s ROYTEC Graduation ceremony held at the Ballroom of Hilton Trinidad. ROYTEC is the educational division of RBTT Bank. Drayton is also president of ROYTEC. She cited the 2005 Budget presentation, which stated that 4,200 jobs were created in this sector, in the first and second quarters of this year and the sector accounted for 12.5 percent of GDP, employing 7.5 percent of the labour force.

Drayton continued, “This being the case, organisations operating in Trinidad and Tobago must be poised to avail themselves of the opportunities that exist to increase market share by excelling in the delivery of products and services; and in these times of ambiguity and aggressive competition, reinforce ethical conduct and quality as the first requisites.” A batch of 221 students graduated from ROYTEC in varied management disciplines. Officials attending the ceremony included Jerome Sooklal, group Chief Executive Officer at RBTT; ROYTEC CEO Elphege Joseph; US Ambassador Dr Roy Austin and acting Canadian High Commissioner William Farrell; Dr Wiktor Askanas acting dean Faculty of Administration, University of New Brunswick; and Robert Leavitt also from the University of New Brunswick. Drayton told graduates there existed a dearth of qualified specialist skills in critical areas of industry and commerce and noted the roles the private sector must play towards ensuring readiness of the young labour force for the world of work, if it is to remain competitive and survive. RBTT, she said, viewed education and training as essential to sustainable growth at both the national and organisational levels.