Tobago must make investing easy

KINNESHA GEORGE-HARRY

FINANCIAL analyst David Walker believes Tobago must do exponentially more to make itself more attractive, if it realistically expects Central Government to approve its $4.72 billion budget.

Speaking to Newsday, Walker said Tobago must "put away the begging bowl."

Walker said Tobago should instead be arguing its case forcefully "on the basis of the tremendous benefit that accrues to the nation state as an investor, either on its own or in public private partnerships.”

To achieve this, he said, requires a major shift in the approach to selection of development projects for Tobago.

Walker stressed, “It is Tobago, not Central Government, that needs to evaluate any such projects in the first instance. This represents a major shift from the way projects are currently initiated and assessed. Viewing Central Government as the financier who earns a large return on such investments leads necessarily to a dramatically higher standard of evaluation of such projects, increasing the prospects for success."

Walker said the THA must embrace detailed planning and proper risk assessment to be considered seriously for investment.

“Tobago must embrace advanced investment appraisal techniques capable of withstanding rigorous scrutiny by the most demanding of financiers. Tobago must make it easy for a responsible and responsive Central government to make the decision to invest in Tobago. Tobago must show that it offers an attractive return on investment comparable to anything else in the nation state."

Walker said social and political returns also must be considered, even though they are more elusive to identify, predict and monitor.

"That does not mean they should be ignored. Projecting and monitoring them significantly increases the likelihood of them being delivered."

He added: "These arguments apply to all public sector investment, with Tobago being a unique subset because of the provisions of the THA Act. Changes to that Act as a consequence of anticipated internal self-government should be considered…In the short term, I do not anticipate significant changes.”

Walker also commented on Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles' comment after the presentation that Tobago is playing "catch up."

“Having made such a statement, the Chief Secretary should have told us who or what we are catching up with; what specifically we are doing in order to catch up; and when do we expect to achieve that objective. I suspect that the lack of explanation belies a lack of clarity on his part. He really doesn’t know who or what we are trying to catch up with. Rather, he is clumsily expressing his view that Tobago has fallen behind where it ought to be in financial and other terms.

“Given the vast sums passing through their hands over the past decade and a half, I have to agree with him. We are nowhere near the level of development that should be expected given that expenditure. The bad news is that one can never catch with missed opportunities. Let us focus instead on the productive exploitation of still existing opportunities. We aren’t even really playing catch up… We’re playing at catch up and are doomed to fail given the trajectory set by this budget.”