Billion-dollar baby – TIC connects businesses, entrepreneurs

Since it was launched in 1999, the TT Manufacturers' Association (TTMA) Trade and Investment Convention (TIC) has connected businesses and buyers, investors and innovators, manufacturers and people, all under one roof, for trade collaboration.

The convention has been a core event for many businesses which offer their goods and interact with stakeholders and potential investors to help their businesses grow.

Now, some 25 years later, TIC has more to celebrate than its silver jubilee. While TTMA president Roger Roach said at its opening at Centre of Excellence in Macoya, on July 11, that TIC had generated more than US$900 million in revenue for exhibitors through business-to-business (B2B) deals, over the past quarter century, the TTMA confirmed, on July 16, that the figure was US$1 billion as of 2023.

The TTMA said although relationships built this year "may require some aftercare", TIC is expected to continue its trend of garnering millions.

Whether through planned or from on-the-floor interactions, exhibitors were able to collaborate on deals expected to grow each business and the manufacturing sector, as a whole.

The TTMA thanked the Ministry of Trade and Industry for its continued support of the manufacturing sector, noting it as one of the biggest factors in the success of this year’s trade show.

“The ministry is our longest-standing sponsor and Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon remains an ambassador of our show in all her engagements.”

It also thanked bmobile business, another long-standing sponsor, which it said helped to elevate the returns to exhibitors and patrons to the show. The ministry and bmobile business worked with other sponsors, Eximbank and the Balroop Group, to pull off the trade show.

“Each partner of this year’s show all worked harmoniously to contribute to the success of the show,” the TTMA said.

It said the additional promotion of TIC through trade missions under the umbrella of ExporTT’s export-booster initiative, meant the TTMA was able to reach a wide cross-section of people.

“The qualitative returns in having the right buyers and people on the trade show floor, especially during the B2B days, cannot be understated.”

TTMA: The place to B2B

At the launch, former TTMA president Anthony Rahael said TIC started as an idea in 1996. Then, president Amjad Ali sought to bring together businesses and entrepreneurs under one roof to build B2B relationships.

Rahael said the first TIC, held at the Queen's Park Oval, featured 15 local booths and 150 participants.

In 2004, it moved to the Centre of Excellence, then to the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain, another year. It has since returned to Centre of Excellence.

This year, from July 11-13, over 2,700 buyers from 32 countries were registered. The TIC included 325 booths from 293 organisations. Businesses from 17 countries, including Jamaica, Dominica, Costa Rica, Grenada and Canada, were also at the convention.

The TTMA told Business Day B2B meetings were set up virtually before the trade show, some businesses made plans to meet at the show and other meetings were "organic" – as business leaders and entrepreneurs perused many booths.

On the second day, Gopee-Scoon said they expected a throughput of more than 30,000 people.

“It's bigger and better,” the minister said. “This year there are substantially more booths than before and we are expecting to see a lot of SMEs, micro-businesses and women-led businesses. They got extra space as well so there is much more room for the public to move around.”

She commended Roach and Ramdeen on their organisation of the event.

“This is the expectation we have of the TTMA because they have been doing well for the past 25 years. Growth has been substantial, both in their contribution to the GDP and to the export levels, particularly to the Caribbean and now, extra-regionally,” she said.

Rudy Rampersad, director of the TTMA and Ramps Logistics vice president of regional initiative, said along with the increased number of booths, foot traffic, better organisation and better parking, there were several opportunities to interact with people that could make businesses better.

“We have a lot more of that interaction with not just managers but decision-makers who are involved in the businesses. We can have them touch and feel your products and try to understand what they can do for you.

"We also have a lot of SMEs and young entrepreneurs here. We are seeing a lot more of these businesses in TIC and now you can connect these businesses with experienced business owners to see how they can mesh and see how they can develop and grow a better business overall.”

He added that along with the trade show there were rooms which hosted seminars. The TIC also held webinars, educating businesses on several different topics.

“What we have seen is businesses getting the opportunity to understand how to build better businesses. This was not just for big companies but for smaller ones as well.

“We were able to help small entrepreneurs understand what is available in terms of grants, how to access grants, what to do in terms of packaging, how to export and how to register your business.”

The TTMA said the largest sector exhibiting at the TIC this year was the food and beverage sector, followed by information, technology and communications, then construction.

Laurel Elliot, director of culinary for North America at Entegra Culinary Consulting Services, said the company felt it necessary to bring its knowledge from working with major hospitality and food and beverage companies such as the Hilton, the Marriott, Unilever, Kraft and Heinz, to see how it could benefit SMEs in TT and the region.

“There (is) a wealth of punches, drinks, really amazing snacks that are available on the local market that are virtually unknown internationally,” Elliot said. “We would like to partner with them, create relationships through the Ministry of Trade and the Tobago House of Assembly through a consulting project format to help businesses broaden their horizons.”

Head of culinary for North America John Csukor said businesses have to be both flexible and tenacious to make it on international markets.

“Stay the course,” he advised. “Do not permit your formula to be changed by other people. It is so important, especially as we visit a beautiful country with a culture like TT’s, for businesses to hang on to that culture that infused the flavours to make their product in the first place. I always encourage people to find the story in the product and always tell that story.”

Arawak quality assurance supervisor Gerard Manick said, as one of the regular participants of the trade show, the poultry producer interacts with smaller businesses and collaborates with them. Manick said conventions such as TIC give businesses great opportunities to meet and share knowledge and information.

“I just met someone from Tobago regarding animation for our corporate videos and so on,” he said. “We don’t just try to partner with big businesses. We’ve done work from past TICs with small businesses and entrepreneurs.

"We have been in the business so long that we share the advice to smaller businesses, more or less, but, with the new trends that the new businesses seem to be on top of, they assist us to modernise our business.

“There is so much opportunity inside here for everyone. There are some people that don’t have a booth but still pass through. There are a lot of potential suppliers and customers. It is a benefit for us that we meet so many people, because there are so many inputs that are needed for our business.”

Ramps Logistics, a company that does customs brokerage, warehousing, full-container and less-than-container-load (FCL/LCL) shipping highlighted its services, which are available in TT, Guyana, Suriname and Miami.

Corporate communications manager Kadelia Achille said its warehouse in Miami supports manufacturers and non-energy partners, while its local and regional warehousing services support the region’s energy sector. She said one of the best benefits of the convention was the ability to meet people who are usually behind the scenes, rather than the ones whom businesses tend to work with directly.

“Networking is something we love,” she said. “Ramps is everywhere, because we like people.”

Manufacturing sector growing steadily

The non-energy sector has been identified as the main driver of economic growth, both by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Bank of TT. The non-energy manufacturing sector is one of the leaders in that industry.

The IMF's country report in May said non-energy manufacturing is the second largest sub-sector in non-energy, behind trade and repairs, representing 13.1 per cent of the total non-energy GDP.

Food, beverages and tobacco products were identified as some of the highest performers, as it constitutes 77 per cent of the sub-sector.

Non-energy manufacturing also contributes 95 per cent of TT’s total non-energy exports, the report said.

The Central Bank’s monetary report up to May 2024, which shared data from the the Central Statistical Office’s retail sales index, suggested
the manufacturing sector also drove economic activity in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of this year. Retail sales expanded by 4.8 per cent, textiles and wearing apparel sales expanded by 6.2 per cent, sales for household appliances, furniture and other furnishings increased by 4.7 per cent and there was a 1.5 per cent increase in the sale of dry goods.

The report added that wholesale and retail trade excluding energy increased by 5.8 per cent and electricity and water sales, excluding gas, increased by 4.3 per cent.

The sector was also at the forefront of response to Hurricane Beryl, which recently ravaged the Grenadian islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique, as well as the islands of Canouan and Union Island in the Grenadines.

In a previous conversation with Ramdeen on the hurricane response, Business Day was told a joint initiative by the TTMA, the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Energy Chamber and Amcham, along with assistance from the Ministry of Trade, provided relief amounting to between $15 and $25 million.