Biesebroek, who was speaking at the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s breakfast seminar, defined the CARIFORUM-EU EPA as “a stable and transparent regulatory framework.” “Besides its basis in the essential and fundamental elements of the Cotonou Agreement (human rights, democracy, rule of law and good governance),” he said, “the EPA promotes economic growth in a manner that is consistent with sustainable development and the gradual integration of the Caribbean States into the world economy.” But while the foundation has been laid by “national and regional bodies” for private companies to profit from the agreement, he continued, these companies ultimately have to utilise the stipulations in the agreement to enjoy its economic benefits.

In fact, Biesebroek admitted that the agreement does face some challenges, one of which is the lack of awareness of the benefits of the EPA in the private sector.

Local businesses, therefore, must become knowledgeable about the agreement’s stipulations and how these stipulations can work to their advantage.

Another challenge Biesebroek highlighted was the issue of supply constraints on businesses – limitations on the production of new stock. He explained, “Making access to a stable, regulatory environment and labour markets respecting international standards are important growth factors.

So too are promoting corporate social responsibility and building a greater transparency in finance to help combat corruption and illicit financial flows, including through the development of fair and effective tax systems.” He also emphasised the importance of and called for the support of value chains of “targeted productive industries and enterprises” to increase their competitiveness and trade capacities.

On the topic of development cooperation, Biesebroek said it was essential to the implementation of the EPA. Using the Cotonou Agreement’s definition of the EPA as “a trade and a development instrument,” he said that the EPA has very clear “development cooperation commitments.” For this reason, “both pillars” – trade and development – must be addressed simultaneously so that Caribbean Sates and stakeholders will benefit from the EPA.

Services Specialist at the Caribbean Export Development Agency, Sonja Francis was also present at the seminar and reiterated Biesebroek’s assertion that companies need to use the EPA to their advantage. She defined the EPA as “a tool for development” which can work only if private companies utilise it.

Francis also spoke on the limitations facing export growth in CARIFORUM, specifying “ineffective or nonexistent platforms for publicprivate dialogue” and “business support organisations” lacking “the capacity to mount effective advocacy campaigns.” She also identified limited access to finances and reiterated Biesebroek’s point that competitiveness is crucial for businesses to prosper in the EPA.

Progress in the EPA It is important to note that Trinidad and Tobago is CARIFORUM’s largest regional exporting country, with 43 percent of its total regional export going to the EU.

The government ratified the agreement in 2008 and is now in its implementation stage of the agreement.

Adam Wisniewski, Trade Policy manager in the Cooperation Delegation of the EU to Barbados, ECS, OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, Trinidad and Tobago explained, “The EPA provides for a 25-year long schedule for elimination of tariffs on the CARIFORUM countries side for products coming from the EU.

The latest tariff modification took place in 2015…and will continue to take place up to 2033. And up till now, Trinidad and Tobago has implemented and passed legislation on all the tariffs waves or models that have occurred so far. In comparison, not all CARIFORUM countries are implementing the legislation.

In this sense, Trinidad and Tobago is doing better.” Trade and Industry Minister, Paula Gopee-Scoon also spoke at the event and confirmed Wisniewski’s assertion.

However, she said that there are still some “outstanding matters” to which the government “is attending.” She said that one of the main tasks of the Trade and Industry Ministry is to implement and encourage the use of the EPA, and confirmed that the ministry has started activities to support the agreement through ExporTT and would like to join forces with the private sector to continue its promotion of the agreement.

In delivering the feature address, Imbert said while the Government had not taken a decision on the matter and it was not a Government policy, in his view, raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 was an important matter that required, “careful consideration and discussion, since many other countries have gone this way to protect the viability their national pension schemes.” He highlighted the history of the National Insurance Scheme as well as the need for its sustainability, adding that based on the ninth actuarial review, a mix of shortterm and long-term reforms were recommended to strengthen the national insurance system.

These recommendations informed Government’s policy decision to increase NIS contributions last year.

He said, “They [Actuarial Review] also project that (the) number of persons at pensionable age will grow from just under 200,000 now to over 400,000 in 2063, while the population aged 16 to 59 who support the retirees though their contributions, will decrease by almost 25 percent over the same period.

“Most importantly, they tell us that the number of working-age persons for each person aged 60 and over will fall dramatically from 4.5 to 1.6 over the projection period. In addition, the total number of pensioners is projected to more than double by 2063, while the number of contributors will decrease over time. In fact, as people live longer, the ratio of contributors to pensioners is expected to decrease from 3.7 to 1.1 over the next 50 years.” Financial projections in 2013, he said, showed that the NIS fund would have been depleted by 2030 if contributions had not been increased. To protect the insurance system, he said, actuaries recommended, “that the Government examine the possibility of an increase in the retirement age from age 60 to age 65 over the period 2025 to 2060.” Although recommendations were made, as far back as 1991, for changes to the system nothing was done. “In 1991, the scheme had 323,000 contributors representing 67 percent of the labour force at the time. The contribution yield in 1991 was estimated to be $207 million. In 2016, a further 25 years after that, the annual contributions reached $4.25 billion. Twenty times more than 1991 and the number of contributors had risen in 2016 to 516,000 representing now over 80 percent of the labour force.

After outlining the eligibility for national insurance and pension, Imbert said, “My research tells me these criteria have remained unchanged for 45 years almost since inception. In 1991, the maximum amount for retirement pension for a person in the highest earnings class was $338 per month. In 2017 pension is now $3000. Almost nine times what it was 25 years ago.” In 1991 there were 31,000 pensioners while in 2017 there are approximately 105,000 pensioners.

“As far back as 1991 it was determined that the retirement benefits scheme administered by the NIB was in need of major reform, there were issues at that time, with the overlap of the old age pension, as there are now… and there was a recommendation that linkages with the private sector should be addressed. These concerns are as valid today as they were 25 years ago,” he said.

The building project cost the Government $343 million excluding Value Added Tax, and the unit cost of construction was $2,000 per square feet. The fivestorey building took under two years to be fully completed and outfitted. The building designed by Bouygues Batiment Trinidad and Tobago, is soon to be certified Class A, leed Silver Certified – a US Certification which represents Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Statistics presented by the Acting Commissioner of Police (CoP) regarding a drop in reported violent crime did not have the desired effect of allaying the pervasive fear that has now gripped our nation. It is exceedingly disturbing that our law enforcement agencies appear incapable of making any significant inroads in the fight against crime.

Apart from the murders, the upsurge in kidnappings, missing children and young adults, and the vulnerability of women using public transportation has led to a growing sense of unease among the population. To add to an already distressing situation, social media is now being used to feed widespread fear through a great deal of misinformation and rumour-mongering that is shared and broadcast on these platforms. In all of this, many of us remain unconvinced that enough is being done by way of detection and prosecution.

More and more, TT is being highlighted in the international media for all the wrong reasons; terrorist recruits, gang activity, human trafficking and crimes against tourists have all made headlines in recent times. Last year, the US Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security noted that “A significant and growing portion of this violence is attributed to the influence of gangs, illegal narcotics, and firearms.” Several high-profile crimes have seemingly dropped off the radar, though yet to be solved, with perpetrators being brought to justice.

Any attempt to urgently address the situation, ought to take the following points into consideration.

The Acting CoP is on his eighth six-month contract and there are no signs that we are drawing any closer to appointing a permanent commissioner. This has become something of a farce, but we remain ever hopeful that the Police Service Commission would make this matter an urgent priority.

Manpower shortages remain a challenge for the police service. While there were reports in early 2016 that some 1500-plus Special Reserve officers would be absorbed into the service, this has not materialised. Fast-tracking this plan would give a much-needed boost to the TTPS and allow it to increase its visibility in public.

The police must be properly equipped to respond, detect and prosecute crimes. Basic tools of the trade such as bullet-proof vests, handcuffs, flashlights as well as more sophisticated equipment need to be provided to officers. The Acting Commissioner has made a clear case for administering his own budget and it is hoped that this would be given fair consideration.

If all that was mentioned before is addressed and the service remains with a high level of rogue officers, it would be akin to the proverbial “spinning top in mud”. Far too many officers are before the courts, while others are convicted of unlawful killings, solicitation of bribes, theft and other crimes. Ultimately this is the reason why public confidence low. The TT Chamber is of the firm view that this must be comprehensively addressed, even if it means soliciting foreign assistance.

Across the region, companies are finding new ways to unlock value through the pursuit of new business models that can provide better blueprints for creating value, which economies and societies can use to tackle the challenges they face and allow them to flourish.

ACCA’s new joint report with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) titled Business models of the future: emerging value creation has uncovered six business models and assesses their characteristics and the world in which they operate providing a global view of the models and their future potential:

• Platform-based businesses – digital marketplaces which match buyers and sellers, such as AirBnB. AirBnB is transforming the tourism market worldwide. Last month saw Curacao become the third tourism-intensive Caribbean destination to forge an agreement with home-stay provider, alongside Aruba and Jamaica to address issues including taxes, accommodation standards and regulations. The platform already offers 1,000 Airbnb listings across the island and average hosts earn $4,400 per year, showcasing its growing potential to further improve Curacao’s economy and create new jobs with the sharing economy.

• Mass customisation 2.0 – ‘On-demand’, local manufacturing services which enable customers to engage with companies to self-build highly tailored products, such as clothing brand Levi Strauss. Levi Strauss, an early innovator using the concept in 1994 with its “Original Spin” jeans for women, leveraged technology to measure customers in its stores and send their details electronically to its factory.

• Frugal –reimagined R&D processes that open up new market segments for low cost, high quality products and services such as Renault’s Indian-designed Kwid. Launched in 2015, Kwid was the culmination of a frugal innovation challenge to design and build a car in Chennai, India, for the highly competitive Indian compact-car market. Renault adopted much of the learning from its experience of developing the Logan to keep the costs down and produce a desirable vehicle.

• Modern barter – platforms that enable the exchange of goods and services with fellow users, often through digital or online currencies, such as online time-banking community TimeRepublik. TimeRepublik is an online timebanking community. Users earn ‘timecoins’ for completing a task which they can then spend on services that they desire.

• ‘Pay what you want’ – where customers can pay what they think is right, offered as part of tiered or ‘freemium’ deals such as video game download service Humble Bundle. At the checkout, customers are given a range of suggested payment options, for example, $1 and over, $5 and over and $10 and over. Each tier accesses a larger bundle of games. Customers are then able, via a set of sliding bars that they control, to allocate the amount of money they wish to distribute between the game developers, a chosen charity and to Humble Bundle itself.

• Mega-hyperlocal – companies that flourish because of their deep connection with the community in which they operate such as Kernel Brewery. Based in central London, the Kernel Brewery, a pioneer of a micro-cluster of London breweries based on the banks of the River Thames, values its position in the community over scale. Its founder has remained resolutely connected to the firm’s roots and has resisted expansion to larger premises even though demand has outstripped its over 10,000 bottles per week sales showcasing where it is from is what matters.

Companies engaging with new business models require technical support from professional accountants in addition to relevant, strategic advice that helps them face current and future challenges. Across value proposition, value creation and value capture, professional accountants can provide a multidimensional set of skills that enable the opportunities to be realised.

Regulation and governance, technology, the expectations of stakeholders and globalisation have also been identified as the four critical areas that are likely to have a significant impact on professional accountants in the future. Recent rulings around the world against a variety of companies powered by new models highlight the degree to which they still come up against traditional regulatory barriers. For example popular platform based business UBER launched in Trinidad and Tobago last month, however Works and Transport Minister, Rohan Sinanan, has said their operation in the country is illegal.

In the rise of new business models the rise of platforms, the changing nature of work, the means by which services are provided and the digitisation of manufacturing are just some of the shifts in the economy that technology is making possible. But technology is only part of the story. It is also about the ability of entrepreneurs and innovators to access new networks, capital and ecosystems amidst a challenging economic climate and in doing create new sources of lasting value.

Finance professionals are at the heart of their success or failure. As more of these businesses take over, accountant’s unique vision of how a new business model can create value for a company, coupled with their responsibilities to provide strategic forward thinking, actionable advice will see them needed more than ever across.

In many instances, there are ways in which clients do not enjoy the measure of respect and courtesy from the business establishment – yet the client is expected to not only repeat business, but to assist with the expansion of the business prospects.

Many times, what may be considered as simple and nonconsequential to an establishment may be viewed as very important to the client, the crux bearing on the establishment to identify various ways of ascertaining what is important to the client and attempting to achieve this goal. This is where simple client feedback mechanisms are extremely important, as what is important to your client must become important to the business organisation. I recall some years ago, I visited a banking establishment with my son, who at the time was but a very young child. During the period in the establishment, he needed to use the bathroom. However, we were advised that this was not possible as there were no such facilities for the clients.

I am certain many persons may have had similar experiences in various humancentred establishments. The important detail here, particularly for such establishments is to remember the circle of commerce. You are reliant upon your clients for business, and your client is reliant upon you for the transaction and management of their business – it is or rather should be a symbiotic arrangement. However, in some instances, business relationships tend to take the client and his/her business for granted. Businesses are reminded that in order for the relationship to remain symbiotic, the requisite emphasis must be placed upon ensuring the customer’s convenience is always taken into consideration. These matters should become standard business practice, embedded into the ethos of every client-centred organisation.

The point of this discussion is to underscore the importance of treating customers with dignity and respect and providing for the most basic convenience to clients, particularly organisations that require clients to wait in lines for service. Business organisations must remember that persons entering their establishment are human beings with human requirements, and in like manner, where each year these organisations add various percentile increases to the client service tab, this service tab must go both ways.

It is beyond unacceptable that clients of some of these organizations are expected to stand in exhaustive lines, sometimes without the courtesy of potable water, and then this is exacerbated with no restroom and other basic facilities. It is equally disturbing that these organizations are allowed to continue to function with such impunity. Such basic requirements should not be the exception, but should become the norm in terms of building codes and requirements particularly if the organisation is expected to be heavily transnational.

I am certain, many persons can cite their very own experiences in such establishments, and perhaps you should! The receipt of such feedback provides valuable information to the business organisation, and any forward-thinking professional will welcome a constructive intervention anytime. Proactive convenience that respects and understands client requirements both directly and indirectly related to the business experience impacts on the bottom line in a number of ways. In addition to increasing client loyalty, the relationship becomes bolstered, as the value added becomes immeasurable.

On the other hand, always remember clients share negative experiences at least 13-times over.

Let this be your guide.

We had previously argued as far back as January last year that “… instead, borrowing on the international market is recommended. Although the country has been downgraded by Moody’s, it still has a good credit rating that it can use to access the external markets. The rationale here is, if, as we suspect prices remain depressed for much longer and we do not sufficiently reduce the deficit, then external financing may be required. We may be very vulnerable to a further downgrade.

It is far easier and less costly to approach international markets now.” It is good to see the government adopting an approach which took advantage of the relatively cheap credit available to access the international market. Once again, the government is going out to finance recurrent expenditure.

While repeating the obvious statement that to borrow for recurrent expenditure is never the best decision, clearly the thinking by the government is that very soon the Juniper fields will come on line and the government will reap the benefits from this. In addition, the write-off of 100 percent of capital expenditure on exploration in the first year will come to an end shortly and of course there is the hope that prices on gas and oil will stabilise higher than expected which will result in higher government recurrent revenues. This will allow the government to service the additional debt it took on.

Admittedly the government has engaged in some fiscal consolidation. It appears, there is no desire for drastic reduction in expenditures that can stall the economy and result in a significant fall in employment. The question that they have to bear in mind is what if prices do not tend to US$60 a barrel – what will the next steps be? There are pieces of information from the debt issue we need to be mindful of. First, over the first six months of 2016 the Balance of Payments registered a deficit of US$367.3 million. Second, for the same period the external current account posted a deficit of US$588.2 million. Third, net foreign direct investment showed a net inflow of a small amount of US$13.3 million. Fourth, there was a net outflow of portfolio investment of US$382.1 million.

Fifth, the gross official reserves at the end of December 2016 stood at US$9,465.3 million or 10 months import cover. Last, but most relevant is the debt/GDP ratio which stood at 56.6 % as at December 2016.

This does not paint the best external position. In addition, initiatives to stabilize and to grow the economy would take time. This newspaper in an article entitled “Avoiding Debt” on Thursday, September 22 2016 pointed out that “Greenidge et al demonstrated that a 56 per cent of debt to GDP ratio is the threshold for the Caribbean, above which increases to accumulated debt result in a reduction in economic growth” then there is also the issue of opportunity cost for the use of funds. No matter how bad the situation we have to be careful about borrowing beyond 56% debt/GDP.

Today we further explore how credible is the argument that globalisation is at an end? The re-emergence of a more assertive and nationalist xenophobic racism in Anglo- America seem to suggest there is an ideological change to post-war globalisation.

Brexit threatens the European Union, the standard of regional integration and supranationalism that complemented globalisation.

However, any consideration that globalisation is at an end is premature. We need to make a distinction between globalisation as a process, and globalisation as a condition.

As a process, it involves the deepening and widening of societal interconnection through flows of trade, capital, and labour; it seems that globalization, as a process, has hit a wall. In a previous time, protectionist language, growing nationalism and flat line growth seemed to indicate that the unfolding of globalising processes has slowed.

However, as a condition, globalisation remains just as prescient as ever. Not even the most ardent nationalist or protectionist could practically unravel a major capitalist state from the web of globalised interdependencies. At least not without causing enormous shortterm costs to their society.

Maybe the process of globalisation has slowed, certainly it is not dead, nor is there any potential ‘de-globalisation’.

Globalisation has a long history, with radical interruptions, reversals, and recalibrations.

After the interruption of fascism and World War II, liberalism and globalisation resurfaced, but now under the patronage of American leadership.

This new chapter of ‘embedded liberalism’, enshrined at Bretton Woods, joined the international openness of classical liberalism with an assurance to insulate domestic societies from the full force of international economic pressures. This was a concession to balance the need for international trade and economic growth with the maintenance of welfare provision and full employment.

A ‘neoliberal’ form of globalising development of the last 40 years, has experienced the domestic welfarist’s chains of embedded liberalism removed. Public service provision was reduced, free trade was deepened through the World Trade Organisation, and there was the imposition of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) on the developing world. Global capital flows quickly increased as constricting regulations were liberalised.

The common refrain that underpins all of the historical periods of globalisation is sovereignty and the state.

However, globalisation has changed. It has a proclivity to encourage recurrences of sovereignty to convey it towards popular or elite rudiments.

Globalisation always faces obstacles and setbacks, breaks and the contradictory cohabitation of alternative types and principles of social organisation.

We are not experiencing the end of globalisation, but its recalibration and redefinition brought on by different types of national sovereignty.

We are seeing the advent of a toxic ‘national liberalism’, a type that delivers a sustained pledge to globalisation, with a progressively racist, exclusionary and xenophobic conversation. It has originated from the conditions associated with social alienation, spatialised inequality, intensified global competition and carved out of popular sovereignty. It endangers respect for other human beings and the pledge to maintain the broad integrity of democratic rights and freedoms.

Nascent national liberalism mainly keeps a promise to free trade and free capital flows.

It differs in its progressively more racist and xenophobic approach to controlling migratory flows – another key feature of globalisation. In both Britain and the US, national liberalism attempts to repair and placate national sovereignty by focusing on migrants as a deviant element of modern globalization, making it necessary for sovereign control.

Globalisation’s incipient, toxic, national liberalism, is no less complex or contradictory than its previous forms.

Xenophobia and other types of bigotry were always there, but they have now taken on a more conspicuous role.

Where does all of this leave us? Whether Globalisation is not going anywhere is left to be seen. We in this country have to prepare for any eventuality. At best, free trade is not disturbed.

It is the alternative scenario that requires preparation for, in which we have not done a good job in the past. This alternative sees a world in which protectionism and tariffs play a much bigger role than in the last two decades. It appears that countries will be prepared to use a variety of strategies to secure an advantageous position.

We need to prepare our trade data; getting the Central Statistical Office operating efficiently is critical here. Most important are the various types of models and analyses that must be prepared to allow us to present affirmative positions.

Models such as gravity, Computable General Equilibrium (“CGE”) or macro econometric models require time and resources to build and to get results. The universities, Ministry of Trade, Central Bank and other agencies must coordinate their resources and effort to assist in developing country positions. Questions such as our position on trade in services including financial services must be developed.

Developing a negotiating grouping with resources is critical, perhaps a review of the use of the regional negotiating machine at the time when former Commonwealth Secretary General, Sir Shridath Ramphal, and Sir Alister Mcintyre, former Caricom Secretary General, were involved, may be useful.

The project, titled, Empowering Urban Women is a series of seminars with the women of East Port-of-Spain in mind.

Permanand hosted six of the seminars over a period of several months last year. They featured speakers from organisations such as the Ministry of Labour, Eastern Credit Union and First Citizens bank who guided attendees on how to apply for loans and start their own businesses.

“I had a lady start a lucrative business, doing embroidery, in her bedroom. She bought the machinery. She has no overhead, she’s at home with her family and she is making money,” said Permanand.

“It also helps develop self-esteem, knowing you can look out for yourself. In one of the sessions we had up in John John, it broke my heart when one of the participants came up to me and said she never felt as though she could achieve anything. I have been fortunate to be able to dream. So many of these women can’t”

“I designed it with helping these women achieve in mind. Because something happened in their lives that stopped it. I don’t know what and whatever it is, isn’t important. I want them to start again. It is almost like a second start, a second chance.”

Permanand says she has been reworking the project with a view to sending it on to the Prime Minister in light of the recent upsurge of violence against women.

“I actually see the project as something of the social component of our crime solution,” said Permanand.

“If we get our women empowered, if we get them to achieve their potential. They will become the role models in their own homes. Their children will now look up to their mother. She will now have the power to send them to school, to listen to them, to talk to them, to be with them.”

Permanand said the genesis for the idea came from a UN conference she attended last year on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women. She has also lived in and around Port of Spain for most of her life and said her mother grew up in Laventille. This is why she has such an affinity for the communities of East Port of Spain.

She intends to go through with another round of seminars this year, but said that funding remains problematic.

She expects that the first should take place after March.

No stranger to the post, Dr Laquis previously served as Chairman for three terms, making this recent appointment his fourth. His involvement with the Society dates to the early 1970s.

The Trinidad and Tobago Cancer Society, a non-profit organization, along with support from Corporate Citizens and individuals has been a pioneer in the areas of cancer education and awareness.

One of the Society’s main objectives is prevention through cancer screening and early detection.

The Society continues to be innovative in these areas with the recent acquisition of the state of the art digital mammography machine.

Dr Laquis commended its past Chairman, Dr Jacqueline Perreira- Sabga and Board Members for their work and achievements in the last few years saying that they have not only served the Society but have all contributed in serving the country.

Acknowledging that these are challenging times, Dr Laquis reiterated that more effort will be placed on education and awareness programmes geared to young people, emphasizing the importance of screening and promoting lifestyle changes.

Dr Laquis further stated that The Society plans on employing the use of new technologies by integrating social media strategies with traditional media to spread its message throughout Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr Laquis remains optimistic that citizens of Trinidad and Tobago can combat and manage this dreaded disease.

Other members of the Board are Jacqueline Pereira-Sabga, first vice chair; Dr. Asante Le Blanc, second vice chair; treasurer Nicole Joseph; secretary Jean Mohammed; Dr Marlene Sukhdeo; Dr Sanjay Pooran; Suzette Ramsden; and Ariana Krisingee.

This new concept offers consumers a mix of information and inspiration, in a relaxed bar-like setting, through series of panels displaying interior and exterior finishes, wood and metal trim, and the latest in wall fashion finishes, all in trendy colour combinations to suit every taste.

Customers can explore the display panels or go directly to the paint counter and be served by a company representative.