Longer-term planning needed, says exec

CEO of Kenson Operational Services Blair Ferguson has suggested that TT should look more at the services sector as a means of diversifying the economy.

Speaking at a forum on growth and international partnerships on Monday, Ferguson said a major challenge the services sector faces when partnering with other companies is the duration of strategic plans.

AmChamTT hosted the forum at the Royal Hotel in San Fernando .

"Unfortunately, we only have five-year strategic plans, because every five years the government changes," Ferguson said.

"While business people may want to develop plans for longer periods, uncertainties exist in the changes of governments. As a developing country, at times some aspects of local businesses do not fall in alignment with international companies.

"We as local companies have to know how to move from that level to the next. When we partner with other companies, we look for companies that share our core values. That is extremely important," Ferguson said.

Matt Ferchen of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in the US also spoke, saying China wants resources, markets for its products and friends from this region.

"The reality is that China puts a lot of its emphasis on those larger countries in the region with vast natural resources such as Brazil and Venezuela. China is in recent times is focusing on infrastructure development, transportation infrastructure, energy infrastructure — all what they generally call connectivity," Ferchen said.

He warned that this "buying influence" through its global economic strategies, including trying to buy friendships, could have negative consequences for those who enter such types of friendships.

According to carnegietsinghua.org, Ferchen specialises in China’s political-economic relations with emerging economies. At the center, he runs a programme on China’s economic and political relations with the developing world, including Latin America.

Among those attending Monday’s forum were: former finance minister, Wendell Mottley; AmCham TT’s CEO Nirad Tewarie; and officials from the US Embassy in Port of Spain.

Ferchen said a broader concern about partnering China is that the deals are better for China than for the host countries.

"You see China using the language of ‘win-win’ a lot. There is a joke (that it) means: China wins twice. Some of the deals are structured in ways where China really benefits."

In terms of labour, Ferchen questioned the number of locals employed in the partnerships.

Tewarie said investments will not happen if the economic and institutional conditions are not right.

"We have to, in TT, ensure if we are to develop a strategy for growth that is based in part on investment. Then we need to put in place adequate institutional arrangements.

"We also need to know what we want to do and why we want to do it. That will form the basis of our interactions with foreign partners," Tewarie said.