Oil and gas no longer biggest investments draw for Trinidad and Tobago

The Trinidad and Tobago government’s diversified inward investment promotion policy is paying off with TT$950 million expected over the next week.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, Thursday November 10, 2011 – A first-of-its-kind data centre, a new manufacturing plant, and a bulk-ore transhipment facility are some of the projects set to bring close to a billion dollars into the Trinidad and Tobago economy and none of them are in oil and gas.

When Trade and Industry Minister Stephen Cadiz goes before Cabinet today he will putting forward approximately TT$950 million worth of investment for government to soon sign off on none of which, he revealed earlier this week, is associated with oil and gas.

While the featured speaker at a luncheon meeting hosted by the Local Content Chamber of T&T in Chaguanas on Monday, he said: “This morning at a forum Mr Dookeran asked me about what sort of investments we are looking at and I confirmed today that between this Thursday [November 10] at Cabinet and next week Thursday at Cabinet that we have $950 million worth of investment that we will be signing off on—and not one single one has to do with oil and gas.”

Among those investments is the carrier hotel on the Tamana Park which Cadiz said would be the first carrier hotel in Trinidad and Tobago. A carrier hotel, also called a co-location centre is a secure physical site or building where data communications media converge and are interconnected. The TT$250 million Information and Communications Technology (ICT) data centre at eTecK Tamana will provide data storage for both local and foreign subscribers.

He also said a private, local company would be investing more than $300 million in a “particular” manufacturing venture which will be signed off this week. While speaking at the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre’s first stakeholder consultation the next day, Tuesday, Cadiz said this venture would be a 100 per cent locally funded manufacturing facility and, while declining to provide details, he said the facility would “probably be one of the largest local investments ever”.

In addition, Cadiz said “a brand new service” would be located offshore at Point Lisas. Cadiz said this would be a bulk ore trans-shipment manufacturing facility off the coast of Point Lisas, which he described as a “whole new service for Trinidad and Tobago”.

In all he said the TT $950 million worth of investment ventures were going to be employing about 400 or 500 people in good paying permanent jobs. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)