BHP president: Change necessary for progress

MIA HENDERSON

“IF WE stand still, we will not prosper,” said president of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company Ltd (BHP) Vincent Pereira, as he spoke on the future of the local energy sector in the global shift to sustainability.

Speaking at the Business Outlook conference for 2019/2020 hosted by the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce at MovieTowne, Port of Spain earlier this week, Pereira expressed optimism for the coming years but recognised that much needs to be done to achieve his hope for an efficient energy sector.

He outlined the main steps the energy sector needs to take to ensure it can adapt to what he believes to be a “challenging, exciting but somewhat uncertain future.”

“In TT we need efficient and streamlined regulatory processes and decision-making that enables rapid project builds,” said Pereira, outlining the need for faster production and processing of information by those in the sector.

Moving forward, he said, the local energy sector needs to create an environment that is attractive for local and international business.

“Capital is extremely competitive and we have to make sure capital comes here and now. We have to stay ahead of the curb always,” he said.

He recognised that there have been many changes globally and believes the local sector is not adapting quickly enough.

“Where we get stuck in TT sometimes is that things don’t change quickly enough. All of that equates to decision-making, the investment and sometimes the loss of investment.”

Pereira said the structure of the local energy sector should be one that recognises and can adapt to the pace at which its competitors are operating globally.