Unit Trust corporation (UTC) Chairman Hubert Alleyne has defended  the Board’s decision to appoint Michael Alexander as acting UTC Executive Director, saying it was going ahead with its own  sucession planning. “We are moving on with our succession planning,” Alleyne said in an interview. He also said he was not going to be drawn into a public debate on whom the board should have appointed as acting Executive Director. A press statement from the UTC on Monday said  Alexander has been appointed to the post of President UTC Financial Services, but the Board has also decided to appoint him as acting UTC Director.

Furthermore, the press statement also sought to put to rest the notion that Alexander was a newcomer to the organisation: Alexander was seconded by the Central Bank in July 1982 to work with Jerry Hospedales and Clarry Benn to set up the Unit Trust, said the statement. “He is no johnny-come-lately to the Unit Trust,” one source said. The statement was signed by Clarry Benn Executive Director. Benn is out of the country on official UTC business. Sources said at the same  time the Board appointed Alexander as President, Financial Services, UTC’s Renrick Nickie was supposed to be appointed, President, Trust Services. Nickie, sources said, declined the position on the grounds that he did not have to go through that exercise.
But Nickie said he never declined any position offered by Unit Trust. “I never declined any position Unit Trust offered me. I don’t know that I have ever declined any position of responsibility at Unit Trust.” Told that he refused his appointment on the grounds that there was no need to assess him, Nickie said, “That was not true.”

Financial sources noted that when Executive Director Clarry Benn reached the retirement age of 60, his contract was renewed for a year. That contract came to an end on August 31. Benn has since been given a six-month extension. Sources said if the UTC board felt that it had not completed its succesion planning mandate, Benn might be appointed again and the Minister of Finance approached to give him another term. “The board in consultation with Central Bank Governor appointed Benn,” said one financial source on the Executive Directors’ six-month extension. Sources said had Nickie accepted his appointment as President, Trust Services,   both he and Alexander would have been assessed by the Board to see who would have been the better choice to replace Benn. “I guess he felt the executive position was his and he did not need to be assessed,” one source said. “Nickie’s ascension to Executive Director is not automatic when Benn leaves,” financial sources said. Nickie now holds the position of Executive Manager, Marketing and IT.

The man leading Miami’s charge to host the FTAA Secretariat, Jorge Arrizurieta, has flatly denied  that Caricom countries are being wooed with promises of financial support,  if they give Miami the thumbs-up. “It is not something that we are doing,” he said, in an interview at the Hilton Trinidad on Monday. “I know that people have been talking about deals and promises, but that is not something that we are about.” When pressed, Arrizurieta, Executive Director, Florida FTAA,  insisted, “nobody’s doing this.” He was in the country this week to try to convince Trade Minister Ken Valley that Miami should be the FTAA site. The timing of his visit was perfect, since the FTAA talks are being concluded tomorrow. “We could not convince him,” he said with a laugh. “We did not expect to.”

Stressing that TT was going to be formidable competition, Arrizurieta said Trindad and Tobago has as good a chance as any but thinks Miami will better serve the interests of the FTAA. On Valley’s comments that the US was bribing countries to get their support, he said the statements were clarified adding that all that was behind them now. “That’s behind us, it makes no sense to tarnish the relationship,” he said. On Miaimi’s marketing strategy, he said, “Trinidad says that they are the natural choice, what we are saying is that we are the neutral choice.” The main thrust of his argument is that Miami is the Gateway to the Americas. That plank is also being used by Valley. Winning will reaffirm that Florida is the Gateway to the Americas, he said. “Florida is the largest trading partner the region has,” he said, adding that it was also  “sensitised to Caribbean issues” with its diversity of population, cultural melieu and trading links with Caricom. “Given the commerce that exists, the Secretariat should be located in Miami, ” he said, noting that small and medium enterprise as well as the global companies are going to have more acces when borders are lifted.     

A press statement from Florida FTAA puts it bluntly. “It is a very logical and natural choice for Miami to be the site of the FTAA headquarters,” noting that Miami already represents “a microcosm of the Latin American and Caribbean region.” Asked how many votes Miami needed to win, he said it camer down to a matter of consensus. But Miami is not the only US city in the running to host the FTAA headquarters; Atlanta is also in the running.  Arrizurieta says the White House will decide who eventually goes ahead. Atlanta is still in the race, he said. Arrizurieta, whose parents were born in Cuba and who was hand-picked by Miami Governor Jeb Bush to lead Miami’s charge, has become somewhat of a globe trotter to get Miami’s votes. Before this job, he represented the Bush administraton at the Inter American Development Bank (IADB). Since June 1, he’s been to 14 nations — Paraguay, Costa Rica, Chile, Nicaragua, Brazil, Barbados Columbia and the Dominican Republic. He will visit St Kitts and Nevis next month. He says he knows that Caricom will throw its support behind TT. Still, “nobody is willing to make a formal announcement.” As for support from the other countries he has visited, “It is just a matter of time, not yet,”  Arrizurieta said. Florida is also spending a lot of money “to get the message out,” he said. At the 8th Annual Ministerial meeting, a one-week event, Miami will spend US$13M. “Somebody’s going to win, somebody’s going to lose,” he said.

Not too long ago this column dealt with the issue of ethics in the insurance business and lamented the fact that the “utmost good faith” principle which is the cornerstone on which insurance has been built over the past 300 years is being severely tested daily. No longer can a nod of the head or a simple verbal agreement be counted on and everything is reduced to writing where the parties are only too quick to rely on some ambiguity or loophole as an excuse to break the contract. While there are universal principles in treating with ethical behaviour difficulty arises when you have to take into account the local culture and what is deemed acceptable by the majority of the population.

Take the recent case of the New York Stock Exchange when the CEO resigned as public pressure mounted. He did nothing wrong and was never accused of any wrongdoing. The Board decided to reward him with a payment of US$140 million, but when that information reached the public there was a hue and cry where the right thing was to resign in order to end the controversy. Investors in the Stock Market felt that the payment was inappropriate for a regulator and made their views known. Further the Chairman of the Board Compensation Committee also resigned, so there were two casualties on what can be best described as an issue of poor judgment. Just imagine the same thing happening in Trinidad and Tobago.
Firstly, we do not have a resignation culture which is the norm in developed societies where people take responsibility as in the case of the Japanese or the English. Instead we find every reason to pass blame or put a different spin to justify action or inaction and mount a public relations campaign knowing that soon there will be some other distraction and the dark clouds will blow away. In many ways the society makes the call on ethical behaviour.

Take another example — Western Union. As you know they are in the foreign exchange and remittance business. A class action was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York alleging that Western Union made misrepresentations or failed to disclose to customers the fact that they received a more favourable exchange rate for converting US dollars into foreign currency and vice versa than they provided to their customers. Western Union denied all the allegations of wrongdoing and that they did not violate any law and that their advertisements were neither false nor misleading. The Court has not made any determination of the merits or demerits of the case. However, Western Union has proposed a settlement with which the attorneys for the class action have agreed and the matter could involve a payout of US$50 million inclusive of legal expenses.

It may be that Western Union came to the conclusion that it was in their best interest to reach an agreement as a business decision rather than to contest the matter given the uncertainty of the Court. However, if there was no merit at all in the class action then they might have defended it to the end. The moral of the story is that consumers have rights and in particular in developed countries the consumer lobby is extremely powerful and that leads to best practices and superior customer service. We in Trinidad and Tobago are a long way from what is the norm in the developed countries and consumers are not sufficiently protected in the law and they do not aggressively seek redress. It is true that the system does not facilitate action, in particular the legal route, as it is too costly and time consuming and so consumers are discouraged as it is not worth the hassle.

There are numerous circumstances where there are misleading advertisements or situations that have a marked similarity to the Western Union case right here in Trinidad and Tobago. Nothing is done and no action will be pursued since the captains of industry will view that as good business sense — buy cheap,  sell dear — no disclosures and no consideration for ethics or the principle of right and wrong. What passes as unacceptable behaviour in the developed countries is surely seen differently in our society and the public will generally see nothing wrong and that is the difficulty in making judgments on business ethics not only in Trinidad and Tobago but in developing countries in general. The insurance industry and member companies of ATTIC have been grappling with the issue of ethics with a view to going back to the “good ole days” when someone’s word was his/her bond. It is a matter of trust and the assurance of being treated fairly as a matter of right and not as a favour. It is clearly recognised that the breakdown of family and the school system over a long period has in large measure contributed to the state in which we find ourselves where people cannot differentiate between right and wrong, and where right or wrong depends on a particular set of circumstances.
 
This debate is coming at a right juncture in the history of the insurance business where the key decision makers largely did not come up from the belly of the insurance industry but rather from other areas of business or from other professions where the principle is usually caveat emptor — let the buyer beware and the making of profits is the overriding consideration. In addition, the business of insurance is fast changing and with consumer needs shaping the future of insurance and the wider financial services sector issues of ethics will feature prominently and leaders will have to make judgment calls. The choices that we make will determine whether such actions were transparent, ethical and with the best interests of all stakeholders in mind and not in personal self-interest, and in the final analysis whether we have discharged our duty of trust. It will not be easy as the business becomes more complex and the pressure to deliver shareholder value builds.
E-mail: daquing@cablenett.net

Global markets moved lower this week as investors took profits in the technology and other sectors. A realisation of the long run of gains coupled with a slew of mixed economic data led the profit taking slump in equity prices. The biggest losers were the US NASDAQ, the German DAX and the Japanese NIKKEI, which dropped 6.3 percent, 7.6 percent and 6.0 percent respectively on the week. However, the US DOW index did stay above its recent trading floor of 9300. As we close September and move into third quarter earnings reports, all eyes will shift temporarily away from the economic statistics and focus towards corporate earnings reports. We expect most companies to meet or exceed their guidance figures and thus substantiate the economic recovery most feel is happening.

We note that the US Commerce Department announced last Friday that healthy consumer spending nudged US economic growth ahead at a slightly faster second-quarter pace than previously thought, setting the stage for a second-half surge in growth. A recent JP Morgan Fleming study in the UK shows a definite problem in individual savings towards retirement. A problem I suspect is present here in TT as well. According to Fleming, 59 percent of working adults in Britain believe they will have a comfortable retirement but 43 percent of them aren’t contributing anything at all to a pension or savings programme. We have been encouraging individuals to revisit their investment programme with a view to getting beyond the past bear market and look towards the future.

Other figures emerge from the JPMF survey underline the extent of the problem. Fleming calculates that only one in four working adults in the UK can currently expect an income of 50 percent or more of their final salary in retirement. It also believes that 53 percent can now expect to have some difficulty making ends meet in retirement. The survey also shows that the average adult believes that he or she will have an annual retirement income near 77 percent of the national average salary. The survey heightens our awareness that saving just small amounts into a regular monthly programme can, build significant wealth over one’s working life, but it does require discipline. Such a savings programme, needs to be carefully planned though and should not be into a product which captures most of the growth for the investment firm. All investments should be measured on their net savings growth to you the investor and heavy commissions and low return policies need to be avoided.

Dollar cost averaging is a great way to build savings and personal wealth over time. This is a system offered by most mutual funds and insurance companies wherein you make a committed purchase each month for a set amount. The fact that more units or shares can be purchased at a lower price for the fixed amount offsets with more affect units or shares purchased at a higher price, skewing the average purchase price lower and improving the return on capital employed for the venture. Investing in this fashion also removes a lot of the confusion and pressure associated with making one single large block type investment.

In looking forward, we expect the markets to rally into the earnings season. Should the number of companies meeting or exceeding their guidance figures prove out as we suspect, new market valuations should be forthcoming with continued steady climbs in the various indexes. We still favour a bias towards the value investment selection process over growth prospects but continue to place emphasis on small to medium capitalisation issues where we believe the greater opportunity exists for earnings and market share improvements. Thus our recommendations focus on the Franklin Templeton Mutual funds which are stalwart performers in this regard and clearly demonstrated their conservative posture over the past 36 month down turn. Looking forward, we find it hard not to see the Health Care, Financial Services, Consumer Discretionary and Technology Sectors playing a significant role in our future lifestyles and thus remain over-weighted in these sectors.
e-mail: darcy@investments-intl.com

Local businessman, Trevor Maingot, is dead set against the implementation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) scheduled for 2005. He believes that it will be “detrimental” to the small business sector of Trinidad and Tobago, leading to increased competitiveness and massive unemployment. “I believe,” said Maingot, Managing Director of Emerald Foods International Limited, “that we, in Trinidad, will be used as a dumping ground for large corporations to add income to their overheads.” “We certainly will not be able to compete with them in that respect.” Emerald Foods International Limited is one of the eight finalists in the Republic Bank/SBDC Excellence in Business Awards, carded for October 7 and one of two finalists in the Food and Beverage Category.

Speaking from his warehouse located at the Fernandes Industrial Estate, Eastern Main Road in Laventille, Maingot applauded the idea behind the competition. “It is a very good concept,” he said. “It encourages the business people to strive to be better and be noticed as being excellent in what they do. That is really needed and a lot more should be done.” Maingot further called on more incentives to be put in place for small businesses.
“A lot more can be done for the small businessman or the cottage industry,” he said, “especially by the government. There are a lot of difficult issues we are forced to deal with.” A six-year old family business started by Maingot, his father Trevor Snr and  brother, Richard in Canada, Emerald Foods is responsible for the production of the Tropical Grove and Everlee Fruit drinks which can be found at a number of independent supermarkets throughout the country. Emerald Foods is also actively involved in the national School Feeding Programme.

The drinks are available in six flavours — citrus, fruit punch, guava, grape, mango tango and apple — with all flavouring materials being acquired locally. Maingot said that the company was presently weighing the possibilities of producing a 100 percent fruit drink within the next year. “Right now, we are testing the market with 100 percent fruit juices and also some drinks that have a 40 percent juice content,” he noted. “Once we find that the product is accepted and has a demand, we will then look at bringing in equipment to manufacture the 100 percent fruit drinks.” Emerald Foods is new to the Trinidad market, having previously concentrated on exporting its goods to other Caricom countries, namely St Lucia, St Kitts, Antigua, Barbados, Grenada and Dominica. Export figures for last year amounted to approximately $6,400,000. According to General Manager, Shaliza Baksh, they have recorded a significant increase in their local sales for this year. “Where before 80 percent of our business was export, today it stands at about 65 percent. More emphasis is being placed on the local market right now,” she stated. “Trinidad has come a long way in terms of the quality of its products,” Maingot noted. “We have done extremely well in coming up with high quality products and we are continuing to go that way, which is good.”

Maingot hopes to bring on board an Export Sales Manager early next year to target areas like Santo Domingo, Guatemala, Columbia and Panama. He also hopes to have his own factory by then. The company presently employs 46 persons and has a second base of operations in Ontario, Canada where the juices are packaged. Maingot said that the decision to move the business from Canada came after he recognised a demand for the product throughout the Caribbean region. “We decided,” he said, “to start a pilot project doing exports from Trinidad to enable customers in the other islands to save a considerable amount of duties.” “Being a Caricom product, freight was cut by 50 percent, so it was a definite advantage for us to go that way.”

However, it was not easy sailing for the company, since two years after its establishment in 1997, it was hit by severe financial difficulties which threatened to cripple the business. Maingot credits his staff and their undying support which helped to pull the company out of its two-year slump.
“The employees have played a great role in getting Emerald Foods where it is today,” he asserted. “I think,” he went on, “that we run a very good operation here. As far as we are concerned, our quality is excellent. We have never compromised on quality.” “We are constantly looking at new flavours, new ideas for packaging and so on,” he noted. Like the majority of local business people, Maingot admitted that the crime situation was a serious concern for him.  However, he said, he refused to dwell on it, choosing instead to go on with his life. “Yes, I am a bit more observant and cautious,” he maintained, “but I can’t say that it has given me any ideas to shut up shop and leave.”

Jamaica is moving full steam ahead with plans to introduce a natural gas project to its high energy consumption economy with a 2006/2007 implementation date. While Trinidad and Tobago remains Jamaica’s preferred source for the importation of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), a wrangle over cheaper pricing has forced the PJ Patterson administration to look towards the possibility of getting the environmentally-friendly fuel from countries such as Qatar, Algeria and Nigeria. Ambassador Anthony Hylton Jamaica’s Special Envoy in the Office of the Prime Minister sees the introduction of natural gas to replace oil as the energy source in its light and power and bauxite/alumina sectors as satisfying development objectives.

Among these are security of energy supplies, long term stability of prices, improvement in energy use, reduction in green house gases and a cleaner environment, and development of an industrial park using natural gas. Jamaica requires approximately one to 1.2 million tonnes of LNG annually to supply their domestic power and bauxite sectors. Importantly, the importation of LNG will serve to reduce Jamaica’s hefty oil bill calculated at US$640 million last year in the face of export  earnings of US$837 million. This year’s expenditure on oil imports is projected to be in excess of US$700 million. Jamaica’s energy landscape is highly dependent on oil which accounts for 90 to 92 percent, while the remaining power sources consist of hydro and solar power. Wind power is also being explored. The introduction of LNG into Jamaica however requires significant investment in infrastructure including a jetty, a terminal facility, storage facility and a re-gasification facility to prepare for distribution to end users.

Ambassador Hylton is hoping to have the LNG storage facility and re-gasification plant operational between 2006 and 2007, handling over a million tonnes of LNG a year and displacing up to 62 percent of the 25 million barrels of oil that Jamaica imports annually. Ambassador Hylton said proposals have been received from three of the world’s leading financial and investment advisors in the LNG business and that a decision should be reached very soon on the preferred advisor for the project. A number of measures have already been put in place to facilitate the introduction of the LNG project including the recent launch of the National Energy Diversification Strategy (NEDS). Jamaica is also the recipient of a US$750,000 grant from the Japanese Trust Fund, managed by the Inter-American Development Bank to conduct a feasibility study.

In addition, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided a technical assistance grant to assist with the legal, financial and regulatory advisory services to prepare for the project. Ambassador Hylton said an invitation would soon be issued for proposals for advisory services on the development of a regulatory framework for the  introduction of natural gas into Jamaica. Jamaica’s move towards Qatar and other countries as possible sources for LNG follows Port of Spain’s refusal to supply LNG at a concessionary rate, contending that LNG did not properly form part of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) as the case being argued by Kingston and other  Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states. Regional leaders in fact have asked the Caricom secretariat to prepare a legal opinion on the matter “in respect of access to, and pricing of natural resources as these relate to energy within the context of the CSME.”

With pressure mounting on Trinidad and Tobago to supply cheaper fuel to Caricom member states, the twin-island at last February’s Inter-Sessional meeting held here, presented a report on the state of the country’s energy industry, including petroleum products and natural gas. It also reviewed the implications of fluctuating energy prices on the economies of the other member states. Following the indepth presentation, Caribbean leaders agreed to establish a Task Force to develop elements of a regional energy policy which should include issues such as security of energy supplies, and pricing and procurement arrangements. That Task Force comprised Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. With all the disagreement over sourcing cheaper natural gas and oil from Trinidad and Tobago — the lone energy powerhouse in the sub regional grouping, it seems that the regional energy policy is long overdue.

Jamaica argues that under the non-discriminatory provisions of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the road map by which Caricom states are creating the CSME, Trinidad and Tobago must supply natural gas to domestic consumers on no better terms than what it would sell to firms in other CSME countries including its own. Trinidad and Tobago however disagrees with Jamaica’s interpretation of the treaty, insisting that national treatment must only apply to firms within its national borders. Last May, Prime Minister Manning told the local media that Jamaica has agreed to negotiate a commercial arrangement for the importation of LNG with Trinidad and Tobago after failing to secure a special pricing arrangement.

“Without prejudice, they have agreed to negotiate a commercial arrangement,” he said at that time. Jamaica also put forward the argument that Trinidad and Tobago is the single largest exporter of manufactured goods to CARICOM countries. “In that context, they felt that LNG would have been a good commodity to which this principle could apply, the option of which would have been a special pricing arrangement,” said Manning. Whether or not there was miscommunication between the two countries, by July during the Heads of Government Summit in Montego Bay, Manning suggested a willingness to explore the preferential sale of LNG to Jamaica and to help that island finance a feasibility study on the proposed transfer from oil to gas.

Jamaica however is holding fast to the position that while the proposals were well intentioned, they did not take into account Trinidad and Tobago’s obligations under the CSME treaty. Jamaica rests its position heavily on the preamble to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in which member states “resolved to establish conditions which would facilitate access by their nationals to the collective resources of the region on a non-discriminatory basis.”

Q: What in your opinion is the major issue in the proposed FCB/UTC merger?

Amjad, Point Lisas

A: There has been a lot of talk about this proposed merger in terms of its legality. Such a question is extremely important, but there is another issue which is purely economic and which has to do with the impact on the structure of the financial industry if this merger were to go through.
In any industry the greater the number of players, the higher is the level of competition. It is also intuitively obvious that as competition increases in any industry the price of a commodity, product or service would obviously fall. In that kind of environment it is the consumer or customer that benefits most and this should be the case as it is a fundamental premise of the economic system we have adopted.

In the United States public policy has been fashioned so that in any industry the bargaining power of consumers is paramount. However, the secondary effect of this merger-mania was that the structure of industries were so significantly changed after the mergers that the level of competition was drastically reduced and as a result, prices started to increase and consumers lost their bargaining power. As a result the US Government devised certain measures by which they could adjudicate on whether proposed mergers were in line with public policy. This type of legislation came to the fore in the latter part of the 1980’s as companies embarked on mega mergers in pursuit of growth. Similarly, in the case of the financial system in Trinidad and Tobago, if two mega financial companies were to merge it could change the degree of competition in the industry and hence the level of prices and bargaining power of consumers ie depositors/investors and borrowers. This would then be counterproductive to the objectives of the economic system as a whole as changes in the financial sector would have cross-linkages to every other productive sector of the economy. The necessary legislation must therefore be put in place to govern circumstances like these.

Q: I am reading in the press that companies from Barbados and Jamaica would like to “cross-list” in Trinidad and Tobago. How does this work?

Emile, Woodbrook

A: There are stock exchanges in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Jamaica where companies are listed and their shares traded. But, a company on any one of the three exchanges may choose to have its shares traded on another stock exchange in another country.
For example, Barbados Shipping & Trading (BS&T), initially a Barbados-listed company is also listed on the stock exchange in Trinidad and Tobago as well. Similarly, Grace Kennedy, initially a Jamaica-listed company is also listed on the exchange in Trinidad and Tobago as well as Barbados. RBTT Financial Holdings is another company which is listed on all three exchanges. Currently there are two more companies which are coming to be cross-listed in TT — Capital & Credit Merchant Bank from Jamaica and Sagicor from Barbados. But why are these companies coming here and what is the attraction? Well, there are many benefits. For the company there’s the opportunity for greater breadth as well as depth of shareholding. Investors also stand to gain a number of benefits.

There are four main ones:
*There is a greater degree of tradability since shares can be now transferred between exchanges.
*Since there is a larger number of buyers and sellers trading the share the price moves more quickly to the fair value of the share, that is, it’s real worth.
*Being able to switch freely between exchanges allows investors, to some degree, to hedge foreign exchange volatility in a particular territory.
*Investors are allowed to diversify their portfolios by spreading risk, not only across companies in TT, but in companies across countries.
Apart from the normal benefits associated with cross-listing, now is also a very good time for companies to list in Trinidad and Tobago. Currently, interest rates are at an historic low in this country due a shift in monetary policy by the Central Bank. As a result pension funds and other financial institutions are yielding very low returns on their fixed income investments. These institutional investors are now more than ever considering the stock market as a place to earn higher returns, of course, with the attendant risks involved. There is therefore a high level of demand for shares and so there is a higher probability of shares being listed here receiving a good reception from the local market. It is also now possible for individuals to buy shares in these companies. Talk to a qualified financial advisor to determine whether any of these may be suitable for your particular investment needs.

Questions can be sent to Po Box 830, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.
E-mail: cmmbsecurities @mycmmb.com

AT FIRST we thought it was a one-horse race, but Trinidad and Tobago’s bid to have the Free Trade Area of the Americas secretariat located at Port-of-Spain is proving to be quite a competitive affair. Going by the progress reports of issued by Industry Minister Ken Valley, it seemed that TT had established an unassailable lead in the “secretariat stakes,” but it now seems that Miami is making a determined bit to nip us at the winning pole. We should have expected that the United States would not allow us to have an easy run for such a valuable prize.

Last Friday, Mr Valley disclosed that his efforts at soliciting support for TT’s bid, launched in Ecuador last October,  had succeeded to the point where the country needed only two more votes to secure the FTAA headquarters site. So far, we have secured the votes of Caricom’s 14 states together with Venezuela and Costa Rica, which means we are two short of the 18 needed (out of 34 hemispheric nations) to take the secretariat.
Those two vital votes, however, may prove to be elusive having regard to the high-powered campaign now being waged by the city of Miami which is apparently not sparing any expense to ensure its success in this enterprise. There has been some talk, in fact, that Caricom states are being solicited with deals and promises of financial support in an attempt to have them switch their support from Port-of-Spain to Miami.

But this has been flatly denied by Jorge Arrizurieta, the man appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to head the pro-Miami effort. “Nobody is doing this” Arrizurieta insisted to Newsday when we confronted him with the report during an interview last Monday at the Hilton. The Cuban American, however, had come to Trinidad in an attempt to persuade Minister Valley to abandon his bid for Port-of-Spain and to throw in his lot with Miami. Asked about the result of his effort, Arrizurieta smiled and said, “We could not convince him. We did not expect to.” But the fact that he has come to the region and to TT to carry out his mission is an indication of how determined is the effort to win the secretariat site for Miami. In fact, Arrizurieta’s assignment has turned him into a hemispheric trotter who has, since he began on June 1, visited 14 nations including Paraguay, Costa Rica, Chile, Nicaragua, Brazil, Barbados, Columbia and Dominican Republic. He is due to call on St Kitts Nevis next month.

The siting duel between the two cities is made all the more interesting by the fact that the basic claim being made by both Florida and TT happens to be the same: that, because of their strategic situation, they are each considered to be the “gateway to the Americas.” Backing up this country-to-country campaign, a statement from Florida FTAA states, “It is a very logical and natural choice for Miami to be the site of the FTAA headquarters” adding that the Florida city represents “a microcosm of the Latin American and Caribbean region already.” It is clear that our country cannot afford to match the roving campaign being conducted by Arrizurieta for Miami, but if TT is able to keep the votes already committed to it, then the country may well succeed in obtaining the winning two at the 15th meeting of the FTAA Trade Negotiations Committee now in progress at the Hilton. In this connection, Minister Valley observes, “This is going to be a make or break conference for us.”  The opposition is formidable, but our money is still on TT to win the valuable “secretariat stakes.”

You have to check your agreements, alignments and addictions if you want to achieve personal growth. And always ask for what you want! So said international motivational speaker and best selling author, Iyanla Vanzant at the 10th Anniversary Breakfast Seminar, hosted by Elder Associates Limited, to a sold out audience at the Hilton and a live radio audience via I95.5FM recently. When you listen to Iyanla, you either want to raise your hand, nod your head, cry, laugh but most certainly you want to think. Think about your life’s value systems, your personal choices and your future decisions.

Perhaps, she touches an emotional chord or fundamentals that you already hold dear, or maybe somewhere in between all the anecdotes and stories, there is that something that gives you an ‘aha’ moment. One thing for sure is that when you listen to Iyanla, you just cannot remain unmoved.
The underlying thinking behind the theme “Personal Change, National Success, Caribbean Prosperity” – the theme of the Breakfast Seminar – is that for change to take place at the national and regional level, it must begin with the individual. The individual takes responsibility for his or her space and creates pockets of positive actions that ripple throughout society. As that movement of positive action of one moves through offices, schools, homes and communities, it will inevitably take root in the nation as a whole. The combined effect of each individual action in each Caribbean territory creates a tidal wave of prosperity across the region.

But according to Vanzant, in order to achieve prosperity, change must begin from within, with the agreements that we make, silently and unconsciously for ourselves. Many of us make personal agreements to remain poor, because we are afraid of power or don’t think we deserve it. She suggests that we make these silent negative agreements by “watching what is going on in our lives and accepting it.” We need to ask for what we want and what we believe we deserve. How many times have we held back in asking for what we wanted such as that top job or major contract because we believed that the deciding person “must know our worth.” Well, how would they, if you don’t go out and ask for it? How many times have we said the words “that’s not my business” or “somebody else will take care of that?” Have we silently made agreements with ourselves that we will tolerate crime, injustice and abuse in our community, as long as it doesn’t really directly interfere with neat little lives?

Next, Iyanla speaks of alignment. Ever thought about the fact that with whom and what you aligned yourself could make that much of a difference to you achieving your life’s goals and ambitions. According to Vanzant, if we want to be successful, we must align ourselves with successful people. If we want to be rich, at least one of our friends should be rich.  If you want that career job, align your self with developmental courses. And if you want to be married, have at least one married person in your circle of friends! Still trying to figure that one out! Clearly a deeply spiritual person, Vanzant states that we need to align ourselves with our prayers. But be careful for what we pray. “Don’t pray for a husband…. He’s already married! Pray for a single available man!”

Finally, in speaking about her third “A” – addiction, Vanzant believes that many of us are addicted to circumstances, situations and people in our lives that have no specific uplifting purpose in our life. Indeed, she suggests many of us are – and my hand slowly moves up into the air – addicted to drama. Some of us are addicted to poverty and I dare say several of us are addicted to toxic people. The idea, though, is that we must get rid of negative toxic people in our lives, and discard negative toxic situations and thought patterns. Having worked for over a year with Dr Patricia Elder and her team at Elder Associates Limited on bringing Iyanla Vanzant to the people of Trinidad & Tobago, it was certainly a proud moment to see our dreams convert to reality. But it was even more fulfilling to receive the motivational and inspiring messages that for a woman, a mother and businessperson made me want to step out even further beyond the boundary and create that ripple of change that could ultimately transform our society. Now, what are you doing about it?

The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Guardian Life. You are invited to send your comments to guardianlife@ghl.co.tt