T&T’s manufacturing sector is stable but there is a need to introduce more innovation into product development to ensure sustainability, says Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon.
“Given the current economic situation of falling oil and gas prices, this sector is critical for the success of our diversification agenda,” she told local exporters and regional and international buyers at exporTT Limited’s Inward Buyers’ Mission cocktail reception . The minister praised exporTT for the good work they have been doing with local exporters
Karlene Roach, the ministry’s newly appointed Deputy Permanent Secretary, also commended exporTT for “pursuing this buyers’ mission as a means to bridge the gap between potential buyers and our local exporters.”
Roach noted that some of the initiatives to be pursued to grow the manufacturing sector, included pursuit of commercial arrangements with extra regional markets in South and Central America, Asia and Africa; facilitation of linkages between local manufacturers and exporters with the diasporas in Canada, USA and United Kingdom as a catalyst to entry and penetration in those markets; and assistance to manufacturers to gain entry to lucrative markets through negotiation of market access, investment treaties and trade diplomacy.
She urged exporters to “go beyond your existing boundaries and take hold of the market access opportunities, beyond regional markets.”
Robert Tang Yuk, chairman, exporTT Limited said: “The Inward Buyers’ Mission when done correctly, is one of the most effective measures of bringing like-minded buyers and exporters together for the sustainable development of diversified exports.”
The Inward Buyers’ Mission 2015, hosted October 14-16, provided a platform for exporters to promote their products, secure trial orders and/or potential ones. It brought together approximately 40 local exporters with 19 foreign buyers from Latin America, the French Caribbean, US and Caricomn.