National coalition to help services sector

A new coalition is being formed to further develop the services sector in Trinidad and Tobago — the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Service Industries (TTCSI). In an effort to raise the profile of the TTCSI, the Ministry of Trade and Industry will be hosting  a special consultation to lay the foundation and framework for the operations of the coalition tomorrow from 9.30 a.m, at the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards Conference Centre, Macoya.

The proposed TTCSI will be an alliance of services organisations, associations and professionals coming together as a group of service providers under one common institutional cover to advise, coordinate and collaborate on trade related issues and developments impacting on services, such as the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and the World Trade Organisation, (WTO). Participants, according to the Ministry of Trade, are coming from virtually every sector in the services industry: maritime and shipping; oil and gas services; banking, insurance, accounting and other financial services; construction and real estate; telecommunications and information technology; arts, entertainment and media; and from the medical and legal fraternities.  

Given the rapid increase in the trade in services and the rapidly evolving global trading system,  the manufacturing and services industry is being seen as an engine of economic growth and sustainable development, said the ministry. The Caricom Secretariat, in collaboration with the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) and Caribbean Export, are working together on the formation of an overall Regional Coalition of Service Industries, which will comprise national coalitions from across the Caribbean. Apart from the TTCSI, National Coalitions are expected to be launched by year-end in  Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, and St Lucia. Barbados has already launched its own coalition, the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries (BCSI), which  was officially launched on November 15 2002.