630 register for virtual investment forum

OVER 630 people have registered to attend the TT Investment Forum which takes place virtually on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The two-day forum is dedicated to promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade and is a collaborative effort between the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) and InvesTT.

The event, according to a release issued on Sunday by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, has attracted business people from the manufacturing, tourism, energy, agriculture, financial services, retail, real estate, ICT and outsourcing sectors.

Approximately 52 per cent of the registrants are foreigners seeking investment interests in TT, from destinations that include the UK, Europe, USA, South Africa, South America, Canada and the Caribbean.

Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon will address the participants on the first day of the forum which will showcase presentations by CEDA’s Executive Director Deodat Maharaj, InvesTT chairman Franka Costelloe, EU Ambassador to TT Peter Cavendish and InvesTT president Sekou Alleyne.

A significant element on day one's agenda is a panel discussion entitled, Investment Expansion in Trinidad and Tobago, featuring company executives from IQor, HADCO, DHL, Trinidad and Tobago Fine Cocoa and CEDA who will share their success stories on investing in Trinidad and Tobago.

Day two will feature over 20 business leaders across seven sectors via parallel panel discussions.

During these sessions, participants will again have the benefit of hearing directly from investors who have already made the decision to invest in TT and also from the local industry captains who will share expert knowledge in their particular areas.

State entities such as Tourism Trinidad Ltd, Tobago Tourism Authority, Trinidad and Tobago IFC, Namdevco, Maritime Services Division, CreativeTT and National Energy will also play significant roles during the day two sessions.

The attendees will have the benefit of setting up business meetings before and after the event, thus providing the impetus for sustainable outcomes.

President of InvesTT, Sekou Alleyne, said he was highly enthusiastic about the forum noting that it would be a significant milestone on the road to this country’s economic recovery, as the leads to be generated will form part of InvesTT’s investment pipeline and nurtured to the point of securing actual investment projects.

The forum begins each day at 9 am with a duration of approximately three hours on both days.