Gopee-Scoon urges manufacturers to develop newer products

Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon says there must be newer products from manufacturers to export.

On Friday at the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturing Association’s (TTMA) Trade and Investment Conference (TIC), Centre of Excellence, Macoya, she said while companies need to boost production to ship more, finding new products will help with that.

She gestured to the shelf behind her on which many local products such as paper straws and pumpkin pancake mix, all made locally, were displayed.

"It is very pleasing to see the very innovative products we have come up with, so this is good especially on the heels of the agri exhibition where many of our local producers also exhibited. In other words, coming from that exhibition, we need to adjust the primary production, but also the packaging, the processing, the manufacturing, right up the value chain in a reverse way so that we can export from private production up the value chain."

Gopee-Scoon urged people to walk around and familiarise themselves with the new products the companies at the booths were offering. She also thanked ExporTT and the TTMA for giving these companies, and those run by the upcoming generation of business owners, the opportunity.

"You know that several of our ministries are focusing on youth and agriculture, so that includes (getting them involved in) agro processing and manufacturing as well. We're making sure that we hit it at all angles, and the result should only be a positive one.

She announced that the Cabinet, on Thursday last week, had approved commercial offices for agro-processing businesses to help get their products out, ranging from niche ones to products that will appeal to the diaspora. Details on particular markets will be made known to the public soon.

Gopee-Scoon said this is the approach which will be taken throughout the region to decrease the food-import bill by 25 per cent by 2025.

"There is a factory coming soon by month’s end and they would be making all of the biodegradable and compostable products. And that's also what we're interested in, the environment."

TTMA president Tricia Coosal said she was happy with the response to the TIC this year.

"It was approximately half the size compared to the other years like 2019,“ Coosal said.

“The reason being is when we were applying for permissions, we were still in the middle of a pandemic so, unfortunately, the show is only half its size. But it hasn't taken away anything except for a lot of companies requesting space that we do not have."

She said she was glad to be partnering with the trade ministry to reduce the import bill.