Atlantic's Sirju-Ramnarine is new AmCham president

TONI SIRJU-RAMNARINE has been named the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago's (Amcham) president, making her the second consecutive woman voted into the post.

Sirju-Ramnarine, who serves as vice-president of corporate operations at Atlantic, addressed the membership for the first time at the end of the chamber's 28th annual general meeting and business forum.

She thanked the outgoing Patricia Ghany, who had served since 2018, "for the visionary leadership you brought to (the organisation)."

Sirju-Ramnarine highlighted one of Ghany's milestones during her leadership – "her commitment to empowering women in business and society... (That was) in achieving gender parity on our board.

"I am pleased to say this is something that we have maintained with this current board," she said.

"In 2021 and beyond, we will continue to lead with a commitment to diversity at the heart of our operations and publicly advocate for measures to create a society with fewer inequalities and more opportunities for all."

Saying she looks forward to meeting the membership in person, Sirju-Ramnarine noted that Amcham, together with other chambers and private sector organisations, had undertaken a pro-vaccination campaign which is intended to encourage citizens to "Take d Jab Jab"– the slogan being used for the initiative.

"This is not the time to allow fear to take control...It is a time for collaboration – a time for solving problems collectively; a time to put all else aside and to move forward together.

"Today, we must 'take d Jab Jab' because we want to eat a bake and shark at Maracas Bay or watch cricket at the Oval or play mas, celebrate Divali and Christmas or Eid and Emancipation, or just simply hug an old friend or family member we have not seen in a while. Of course, the value of having the nation’s workforce and productivity levels ramp back up to optimal levels cannot be understated.

She said, "Amcham TT will continue working with the government’s vaccine administration process," adding that, "While we recognise it is a personal choice, we hope those of you who can, when it’s your turn, that you too will do your part and (get vaccinated).

Despite being in a time of crisis, she added, the country must be optimistic for a brighter future.

"It is a time for a new vision, for long-term strategy and long-term planning and for collaboration."

The incoming president highlighted AmCham's three main areas of strategic focus it considers key to "future-proofing our economy," namely the recovery of the economy, the use of technology and the" preparation of the youth and the current workforce to the future."

She said, "A key element to recovery will be attracting additional foreign direct investment.

"It will also require significant local investment. Liquidity in the financial system is high. Local companies are listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, and some are even moving their headquarters there. We have to make TT a more attractive place to do business.

"One of the ways in which we can do this is by having strong institutions and these institutions must be supported by laws such as the Public Procurement Legislation, which is an absolute necessity if we aim to recover successfully. The full operationalisation of this act has been long in coming and we reiterate our call on the Government to act now."

Sirju-Ramnarine added that the "rule of law is a key prerequisite to investment attraction and a welcoming business environment.

"Countries that display a commitment to the rule of law often have high levels of economic freedom, social mobility, and economic growth.

On developing the technology sector, she said Amcham believed it will be a key enabler for the recovery and future competitiveness of this country.

"As we seek to build other sectors of the scale and quality as our oil, gas and petrochemical industries, we are certain that it is possible to create a tech sector in TT that is globally competitive and that will include a mix of foreign and local companies.

"With efforts focused on re-shoring and near shoring, coupled with the transformation imperatives laid bare by the pandemic, we have a golden opportunity to make the goal of creating a tech hub a reality.

"In addition to the benefits of creating a tech industry, we also have to harness the transformative power of technology.

"We recognise the priority the government has placed on this and are eagerly awaiting tangible outcomes and indeed opportunities emerging from the Cabinet-appointed Digital Transformation Advisory Committee’s work and the line ministry’s two-year transformation programme."

For the third pillar – preparing the youth and workforce for the future – she said attention must be paid to building a culture of curiosity, which helps mould "young people with analytical thinking skills and other critical skills for the future.

"This, she said, "requires significant work that must be done in examining the role of schools and on the current curriculum.

"While the pandemic has shown that online school cannot work in totality, we have seen many new tools and techniques being incorporated into the way teachers teach and how students learn.

"Therefore, our education system must see technical and vocational skills ranging from specific software to soft-skill training as investments into our future. This is how we build the workforce of the future that will make TT competitive intellectually and economically."

After elaborating on the three pillars, Sirju-Ramnarine said, "I know it may seem that these are some tough times right now and that these commitments may seem like just another set of lofty goals we have all heard of before. But if we can’t see the opportunities past the crisis, then we are bound to keep repeating the same mistakes that have left us immobile and less productive that we ought to be.

"Covid19 may have altered our reality, but it hasn’t knocked us out yet. We still have time to put things back together, not entirely the way it was before the pandemic, but perhaps how it should have been all along. I’m talking about a world with more collaboration among competing actors and agencies, more inclusive spaces for different persons, allowing the rule of law to work for and not against us, and just simply having the vision to do things differently to achieve greater results."