Valley backs Germany

This fact was not lost on Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley who formally launched the forum. Valley said he was grateful for the attendance of delegates because the World Cup quarter-final match between Germany and Argentina was being played simultaneously in Berlin.

Prior to the start of yesterday’s event, some of the delegates took some time to catch snippets of the match on the large screen TVs in the hotel lobby. Giving his own plug for Germany to win, Valley assured his audience that “we will do our best to keep you abreast of the match as it unfolds.” Germany yesterday defeated Argentina 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to reach the first semi-final match in Dortmund on Tuesday where they will play either Italy or Ukraine. Back to the business at hand, Valley said the forum underscores Government’s position that “integration is key to economic survival in the world at large” and facilitates Trinidad and Tobago’s trade and investment policy goals. Valley said he hoped the forum could be used to foster cooperation among regional businesses to create a viable strategy to address some of their challenges.

Noting the key role played by the private sector in the developmental goals of a country, Valley hoped that the forum, to be held in TT from September 26 to 29 “can be used by the private sector to enhance their respective growth and developmental goals which are quite in sync with those of regional governments.”

Valley said TT has mounted several successful trade missions to regional destinations within recent years and together with other initiatives, this has caused TT to enjoy solid economic growth over the last 12 years and become “a flagship of regional development.”