Seek more V’zuelan investment

ECONOMIST Dr Ronald Ramkissoon yesterday said greater effort should be made to attract more Venezuelan investment into TT.

He expressed this view at the TT Chamber’s 2019/2020 Business Outlook at MovieTowne Banquet and Conference Centre, Invaders Bay. In his presentation, Ramkissoon observed that many of the Venezuelan migrants who came to TT have labour intensive skills which could fill certain vacancies.

After noting efforts by TT to help Venezuelan migrants as a result of the crisis in that country, Ramkissoon asked, “In our attempts to help our neighbour, can this country be more strategic in its approach?”

Apart from attracting Venezuelan labour, Ramkissoon wondered, “Might we not be able to invite some investment capital as well?” He asked what would it take “to identify our needs in respect of skills and capital and strategically guide such into the gaps that are preventing us from growing faster.” Ramkissoon suggested there were gaps in areas such as health. education, manufacturing and agro-processing, which could be filled by Venezuelans. He said such opportunities should be “explored to the mutual benefit of both countries.”

Ramkissoon asked if TT was not overlooking “huge markets and possibilities existing further south.” He reminded his audience that gaps in the economy were “filled by Angostura and cocoa planters from Venezuela in times gone by.” Ramkissoon argued the best way to predict the future, is to create it.

From an economic perspective, Ramkissoon said people must examine how a country like Venezuela with so much wealth could descend into such a situation as exists today. He said Venezuela has 300.3 million barrels of crude oil (boc) and 423 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of natural gas. In comparison, TT’s energy reserves of 0.2 million boc and 10.9 tcf of gas, are minuscule.

Business people, he continued, should not be mere bystanders but “seek to influence the direction of the economy in a sustainable direction.”

Association of Real Estate Agents president Mark Edghill said the influx of Venezuelan migrants into TT, could lead to an increase in demand for residential rental properties as these people seek accommodation. Edghill said this could involve single or multiple occupants seeking housing.