Planning for post-covid19 Trinidad and Tobago

The American Chamber of Commerce TT (Amcham) webinar on Wednesday proved timely and critical.

While hopes that widespread omicron infection might bring a final chapter for the spread of covid19 seem premature, it's appropriate for the critical stakeholders in TT's economy to begin thinking about how the country positions itself in a global marketplace that's already realigning to address the market and distribution shocks that the pandemic has wrought.

The call by Anthony Sabga III, Ansa McAl Group CEO, for citizens to "remember the fundamentals of who we are as Trinbagonians," is particularly poignant, recalling a history in which creativity, innovation and industry were hallmarks of our developing society post-Independence.

Amcham's focus in last week's Economic Outlook Forum was robustly focused on its membership, businesses operating in TT that participate in the global marketplace.

President Toni Sirju-Ramnarine warned the government of potential setbacks that could limit the country's potential recovery and subsequent growth.

Ms Sirju-Ramnarine noted the cost of servicing the country's significant debt, the need to make tangibly good on promises to create and support the growth of a digital economy, and the need to address issues with Customs and Excise to improve the flow of goods across borders.

These were questions amplified by Mr Sabga, who reiterated the continued call for TT to improve its processes for enabling and supporting business, and updating its regulations and laws to meet current and future needs.

"What lessons are we going to take from this time?" Mr Sabga asked. "Who will we be as a nation and a region after this?"

These questions engage all stakeholders, government, business and civil society, who must collectively proceed with a commitment to understand and engage the new demands and challenges that are likely to be part of the reality of developing TT in a post-covid19 world.

Amid plans for digital transformation, there hasn't been enough attention paid to revamping TT's last-century education system and the commitment to worker retraining remains spotty.

Both are needed to prepare TT's human resource to meet challenges still to come and still unforeseen.

TSTT meets with the Communication Workers Union on Tuesday to discuss restructuring, which has tended to mean retrenchment and not retraining to refocus labour assets.

On Thursday, Scotiabank announced that it would retrench 149 workers and close two branches, attributing the changes to "consolidation of certain support services and back-end functions" and an emphasis on digital alternatives to its traditional banking business.

These are not isolated incidents.

They are the bellwether of significant change in the relationship between businesses and customers.

Failing to prepare for these fundamental reorientations in business is a guarantee of even greater challenges to come.