CONTACT Magazine (Vol.18 No.2 – August 2018)

Vol.18 No.2 – September 2018

The Voice of Business in Trinidad & Tobago

The digital imperative T&T experts explore the business world’s latest challenge The future of work | Digital marketing The world of fintech | The digital landscape

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Vol.18 No.2 – September 2018

Contents

ON THE COVER Marc Persaud of SugaPay and CariCrypto: young companies at the cutting edge of the new financial technology. See story on page 22.

(Photo courtesy TTCIC)

07 A note from the editor

Introducing the theme of this issue: the digital challenge we can’t avoid

08

The village that markets itself

This Tobago community has remembered the advantages of self-reliance. Pat Ganase explains how it happened

SPECIAL CONTACT SURVEY: THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

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The future of work

Kalifa Clyne asks technology journalist Mark Lyndersay to walk us through some of the basics of digital transformation for businesses

26

The challenge of digital marketing

30

How far have we come?

34

What’s next for T&T?

Digital 101

22

The future of money

New payment systems, more automated banking, new currencies – the digital future is already upon us, says Natalie Dookie

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

How are jobs likely to be affected by the digital revolution? Carolina GonzalezVelosa wonders how worried we should be

If you are not already exploiting digital media to market goods and services, you’re in danger of being left behind, warns Karel Mc Intosh Tracy Hackshaw surveys the digital landscape in Trinidad and Tobago to assess our progress so far Atiba Phillips looks towards the horizon to see what new technologies are likely to confront us in the next few years

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Vol.18 No.2 – September 2018

The Voice of Business in Trinidad & ToBago

Published by

The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

The digital imperative

T&T experts explore the business world’s latest challenge The future of work | Digital marketing The world of fintech | The digital landscape

44

Energy update

Columbus Circle, Westmoorings, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago PO Box 499, Port of Spain • Tel.: (868) 637-6966 • Fax: (868) 622-4475 Email: chamber@chamber.org.tt • Website: www.chamber.org.tt

The energy picture is steadily brightening

Tobago Division:

46

From recovery to growth

ANSA McAL Building, Milford Road, Scarborough, Tobago Tel.: (868) 639-2669 • Fax: (868) 639-2669 Email: tobagochamber@chamber.org.tt

48

Welcome to new members

Major forecasters predict economic growth in 2018-19

Produced for the Chamber by MEP Publishers (Media & Editorial Projects Ltd)

6 Prospect Avenue, Maraval, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Tel.: 622-3821 • Fax: 628-0639 Email: info@meppublishers.com • Website: www.meppublishers.com

37

Who’s afraid of digital?

38

Our digital “to-do” list

42

Starting small

Anil Ramnanan talks to two companies who have embraced digital technology instead of fearing it Tracy Hackshaw pinpoints areas that should be urgently addressed if Trinidad and Tobago is to be competitive in the digital world Niran Beharry meets two companies which are learning how to develop global reach from the smallest beginnings

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Editor Jeremy Taylor Assistant editor Natalie Dookie General manager Halcyon Salazar Page layout & design Bridget van Dongen Advertising Denise Chin, Mark-Jason Ramesar Production Jacqueline Smith Editorial assistant Shelly-Ann Inniss DISCLAIMER Opinions expressed in Contact are those of the authors, and not necessarily of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce or its partners or associates.

CONTACT is published quarterly by the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC). It is available online at www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine. © 2018 TTCIC. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

05

A note from the editor

T

here are robots performing surgical operations in hospital. There are robots greeting and looking after bank customers. There are robot “assistants” looking after people’s houses. There’s a robot model called Pepper which can conduct a basic conversation with you, registering your gestures, expressions and mood.

There’s another called Linda which cheers up melancholy senior citizens in care homes.

Machines designed to function like humans are just one part – though perhaps the most dramatic part – of the great wave of automation that is washing around the world. It has been reshaping retail and financial services for a good while, and is swirling into just about every other area of commercial activity. Young entrepreneurs are riding the wave already; but the older we are, the harder it is to adjust to a world where data is the new gold, where you

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trade in invisible currencies, and cars drive themselves through the streets.

How ready is Trinidad and Tobago to cope with this transformation? Are we ahead of the game or lagging behind?

What does the digital wave mean for the business world?

That’s the theme of this issue of Contact.

We assembled some of the country’s technology experts to take a hard look at the state of digital T&T. What can we expect to happen to familiar parts of the business world – jobs, money, payments, manufacturing, marketing, communications, business models? What do we need to do to get ourselves ready to cope with the coming disruption?

Many of the answers are still up for debate. Whether you agree or disagree with our experts’ conclusions, we welcome your feedback and opinions if you feel like contributing to the discussion.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

07

INNOVATION

The village that markets itself Tobago’s tourism industry has been in the doldrums, but one west coast village is bucking the trend with a lively trade in visitors. What has it been doing right?

WORDS By: pat ganase

C

astara sells itself as the “real deal” in Tobago: an authentic Caribbean fishing village. But its property owners claim they don’t attend trade shows; they don’t advertise. How, you might wonder, is it doing such good business? Is word of mouth so powerful? Is there some other way to reach a global market?

If you search booking.com for accommodation in Castara, Tobago, you’ll find 15 to 17 properties. SeaScape on Heavenly Bay, The Naturalist Beach Resort, Cottage Mango and Castara Retreats have recent rave reviews. Then there are Sealevel Guesthouse, Lillibets, Little House on the Hill, Porridge’s Place, Boatview or Riverview Cottage. All have sea views and wifi. The top three reasons to visit are said to be “sunsets, scenery and relaxation.”

On TripAdvisor, the top-rated accommodations in Castara are Castara Retreats, AliBaba’s Sea Breeze Apartments and Carpe Diem Villa with “sea views from the bed”. High ceilings and a 45-foot verandah are noted, along with “great snorkelling, diving, swimming, bird-watching, fishing, stargazing or walking in the rain forest; a

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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Alex Treadway, courtesy Castara Retreats

Castara from the sea: a village nestling against the Main Ridge rain forest million miles away from the hectic pace of normal life!”

There’s a similar story on Air BnB. You can see popular properties “just booked”: Blue Mango Cottages, Golden Apple Villa, and Little House on the Hill. Rooms available in Sealevel Guesthouse, Leapfrog, Angel Retreat, Seabreeze Cottage or the Roundhouse. For the family, there’s the house at Toad Heights, home away from home for six guests in three bedrooms, five minutes’ walk to the beach.

The Castara strategy Word of Castara’s continuing ability to attract visitors, and its 60 per cent repeat business rate, has been getting out. Never mind the transport challenges, the decline in the Trinidad and Tobago economy, or even the village’s

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“We are getting more arrivals than anywhere else in Tobago. We have never been to a trade show”

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

09

Styve Reineck / shutterstock.com

INNOVATION

“Pulling seine”, a tradition where locals and tourists alike pitch in to pull in a seine net, and can pay for a share of fresh catch

“Tourism must be founded on principles of shared opportunity, to ensure that it sustains the local economy and culture without damage to the environment” remoteness, clinging to the rain forest on the sunset-facing coast of Tobago.

Castara is succeeding with a simple strategy for tourism, and is attracting visitors from all over Europe, the United States and Canada, not to mention Russia, Chile, and Brazil.

Over the past four years, the Castara Tourism Development Association (CTDA) has brought together businesses operating in Castara. It holds the view

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

that all business in Castara is tourismrelated. So whether you sell fruit or fish, rent cars or rooms, make meals or bread, take tours to the rain forest or reef, teach in the school or collect bamboo for Bonfire night, you have a stake in the future of Castara.

Bertil “AliBaba” Taylor, owner and operator of AliBaba’s Sea Breeze and Tours and president of the CTDA, explains: “We make sure visitors get

more than expected, from arrival to departure. Castara is a real village.

Safety is a big thing in our village; visitors must feel safe. They are invited to take part in local traditions, see a genuine way of life. They feel welcome in every part of the village. There are visitors who are coming back for more than 20 years; they book the next year when they are leaving this year. By word of mouth, they bring or send friends.

“We have never been to a trade show. AliBaba’s Sea Breeze is listed on myTobago, Air BnB, Bookings.com and TripAdvisor; and of course, there’s our website and Facebook page. We have a community that sells itself, person to person. The model baffles the authorities; we are getting more arrivals than anywhere else in Tobago.

Castara people are very close, keeping culture and tradition alive. We all benefit from tourism, there’s no need for all-inclusives.”

Village life Bertil completed AliBaba’s Sea Breeze – six rooms – in 2003. There were only a

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Alex Treadway, courtesy Castara Retreats

Castara Bay from Castara Retreats

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

11

Sandra desuatels

INNOVATION

Castara village itself is clean, laid-back and an easy walk from any accommodation few guesthouses back then. But in 2018,” he says, “we have 150 rooms in 30-plus properties, seven restaurants and a few bars.

“We have regular weekly activity that attracts people from all over the island, locals and visitors. On Wednesday, local African drumming; moko jumbies. Thursday, Bonfire on the beach; live pan music. Saturday night, De Coffee Shop Barbecue.”

Bertil and five brothers followed their father into the business of providing tours, transportation, and rooms. Today, his parents operate the second traditional clay oven in Castara, behind Cascreole restaurant, which is run by another Taylor.

The two ovens operate on a co-operative system, with the village bakers producing specialty bread (pumpkin, pawpaw, and whole wheat) and pastries (coconut tarts, drops, pone).

“The purpose of CTDA,” says Bertil, “was to share new ideas and to act cohesively. We promote keeping the village clean, with proper bins for recycling. We talk to the kids about protecting the environment. We recently launched a project to ban styrofoam and plastic bags. Over the summer, the kids will design and we will make cotton re-usable bags for distribution throughout the village.” They are already looking at options for alternative energy, wind and solar.

“Our reef is right off the beach; you can snorkel there. As tour operators, we educate visitors that you cannot walk on the corals; you cannot take anything from the reef. Villagers and visitors are regularly informed.”

Steve Felgate of Castara Retreats concurs: “We believe that tourism must be founded on principles of shared opportunity, to ensure that it sustains the local economy and culture without damage to the environment.”

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

A founding member of the CTDA, Steve is looking at niche markets. In 2017, Castara Retreats built a yoga platform with an incomparable view. Next, they are looking at the market for weddings: “We already have a steady stream of small weddings of eight to 20 persons. We can sleep 42 guests; and we have a pavilion that can seat up to 90 at Castara Retreats.”

Technology

Castara’s secret seems to be a careful mix of technology with on-the-ground human warmth and community.

The avenue for communicating with a global market has been consistent. Steve says: “Our best strategy is a wellpresented and informative website. We pay attention to feedback and reviews on the main internet sites. The internet is fundamental to our success. We do very little marketing in print. We took a lot of care to create a website that reflects a place where visitors receive a warm welcome and find others with a similar outlook on life.”

Tobago is actively supported by a network of people who love Tobago, many of whom may not even live there. The Castara model need not be confined to Castara.

The myTobago website, for example, launched in 2002, was built and is maintained by Steve and Jill Wooler, who regularly return from England to Tobago. Wooler claims, “It is the only comprehensive and honest guide to holiday accommodation on the island. We include every hotel, resort, guesthouse, inn, apartment, cottage, bed & breakfast or villa that we can trace.

Most of our research is conducted during an annual two-month winter pilgrimage to Tobago, reviewing hotels, guesthouses, apartments and villas. It’s a hard life!”

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

Digital 101 It’s all very well to be told to “go digital”, but what about the mechanics of it, the costs and methods and pitfalls? Contact asked technology journalist Mark Lyndersay to go over some of the basics.

Kalifa Clyne asked the questions photo courtesy: mark lyndersay

W

e are in the era of information, and businesses are being told to embrace and incorporate digital tools. But does digitalisation really benefit every business model?

I can’t think of many business processes that aren’t going to be touched eventually by digital tools or processes. If a business isn’t thinking about how digital technologies impact its existing business model, it can rest assured that someone else is busy doing that thinking, and will apply the benefits and advantages ruthlessly.

Can you give some examples of the benefits which can be realised? Does digitisation of a business lead to increased sales or market share?

courtesy mark lyndersay

The singular, critical benefit that any business will reap is a lubrication of its relationship with the customer. Every digital transformation process should begin with a sober consideration of what the customer expects from the business now, and what they are most likely to expect in the immediate future.

Engaging in these costly, often extremely disruptive processes without a clear end goal is pointless at best, and quite likely to be fatal to a business if it doesn’t, by happy chance, reap a reward. Plan, then plan again.

Every business should start by considering what should make the migration from analogue to digital, which is the

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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The critical benefit for any business is a lubrication of its relationship with the customer business of digitising. That’s best done with existing procedures and then worked backward through the history of the business.

Digitalisation, however, is the process of turning digital information into a business advantage. That’s when a company can begin to get a living pulse of how it really works, and where the pain and profit points are.

It’s business intelligence, delivered live from the point of collection.

Digital transformation has had an evolving meaning over the last two decades, but in 2018 it’s the analysis of the data gathered by business processes to evolve the business, sometimes on a daily basis, to meet customer needs more efficiently.

In the digital age, a business should be a learning institution, capable of adaptation and evolution as a response to what its customers tell it, or in some cases, don’t tell it through their absence.

Is there something like a digital starter pack or a basic set of tools that every business needs in order to begin a digital rollout? How do businesses choose the right equipment, hardware, and software for a particular operation?

Businesses shouldn’t choose software and tools. They should respond to business intelligence and adapt processes to suit markets that are now hallmarked by mercurial change.

To do that, a business has to set aside the notion that the IT department is some kind of vestigial service division, and put it front and centre in the analysis and decision-making process.

Because of the way most IT departments are currently configured, that may not be a particularly easy thing to do right away, but it should start with the appointment of a Chief Information Officer at the executive level. That job has equivalency with a Chief Financial Officer in any business that intends to be a player in a digital future.

Local universities producing MBAs need to get on board with the idea of producing leaders who are not just business-literate, but fluent in the architecture of a digitally enabled business.

It’s not necessary that business leaders should know how to code, but they need to understand how digital development in their business sector is evolving and why.

It’s a bit like owning a sophisticated, fast European sports car. You aren’t likely to know how to repair one, but you should know enough about how it works and what makes it unique and special to be able to carry on a conversation with your mechanic. Which also means that you should know enough about it to know when it isn’t working properly.

Digital is the new normal. Embrace it and leverage it.

• •

• •

•

Digital transformation is the way forward for T&T to drive diversification, growth and change.

E-government and E-business will drive the necessary changes in society through alignment between citizens, businesses and government, to facilitate smoother, simpler and cheaper transactions.

Improved ease of doing business will make businesses more competitive, innovative and open new markets.

Increased value-added products and services will become available. Creation of services for a host of applications in medical, education, security and financial services.

Will allow for the unleashing of locked capital through improved analytics of financial risks and rewards, and create a new ecosystem of value through technology advances, cultural shifts and regulatory changes.

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Gerry C. Brooks, Chairman, NGC Group of Companies Chamber Business Outlook Breakfast Meeting, June 27

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

Is digitalisation going to need a big financial investment from businesses?

Being a digital business means investing in ways that may be unfamiliar. A digital business buys specialised, focused talent and deploys it differently.

In a traditional business, you bought plant and employed labour. A digital business might employ fewer people but contract more talent to meet surges in business cycles. It can be a very different way of managing resources, depending on the business model.

Bits are not the same as atoms.

They need to be managed differently and deployed according to their strengths.

Can the digitisation process happen without causing upheavals or being disruptive to a business?

Digital equals disruption. A business operating in a sector where digital is rapidly evolving is either planning to disrupt its rivals in the marketplace or preparing itself to weather a disruption.

In that environment, the leadership is not managing the business as it exists today; it should be preparing for the way it will compete in the marketplace that is coming.

Should businesses in the region have reached a certain level of digitalisation by now? What needs to be done to reach that level?

The Caribbean, with few exceptions, is far behind the changes in the metropoles metropoles. What’s helped is the muffling effect of distance and, perhaps, the warm buffer of the Caribbean Sea. But change is here, and its adoption is not only accelerating, it’s likely to be a condition of doing business in a global marketplace. The 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the US was only the start. Have local businesses operating on the web effectively planned a response to GPRD [General Data Protection Regulation in the EU]?

What’s unfortunate is that every business operating in Trinidad and Tobago had the example of what’s been happening in the first world for years in advance, and far too many took a measured, leisurely attitude toward these upheavals.

The big changes over the next five years will be in information distribution, which has hammered media houses over the last two years, and financial technologies, which are just starting to kick in the doors of banks and other financial institutions.

Can you identify some of the traps businesses fall for when considering digitalisation, and how to avoid them?

Biggest trap? Thinking that you’re done. Digital transformation is continuous. In traditional business, you laid down the plant, you hired the employees and it basically ran itself. Now the stream of business intelligence is continuous. You can, conceivably, know everything about your customers and their interactions with your company.

What do you do with that information? What changes are warranted and what adjustments in business processes will strengthen your advantage?

When you can know everything, it’s tempting to just lie down and do nothing.

Your competition will not be doing that.

What considerations should businesses give to cybersecurity when implementing digitalisation?

Cybersecurity should occupy the same prominence in business planning that security does in the physical plant.

Who has access to your most sensitive business areas? How are you protecting the business from attacks, both internally and externally? Who has access to the business information?

That this is even a consideration, given the very public demonstrations of the price that businesses pay Digitising: making the transition from analogue to digital for carelessness with bits, is a continuing surprise.

The Caribbean, with only a few isolated exceptions, is far behind the changes that are being experienced in the

Digitalising: turning digital information into a business advantage Digital transformation: gathering, analysing and leveraging data to meet customer needs more efficiently through business process changes

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Mark Lyndersay is the editor of TechNewsTT.com, a news website covering technology developments in Trinidad and Tobago. BitDepth, his weekly column exploring personal technology, has appeared continuously for 23 years. Kalifa Clyne is Digital Coordinator for the daily newspaper Newsday.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

17

THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

The future of work How anxious should people be for their jobs as technology advances? Will new, intelligent machines take the place of human labour?

WORDS By: CAROLINA GONZALEZ-VELOSA Labour Markets Specialist, InterAmerican Development Bank

O

ne of the most popular searches on Google these days is “the future of work”. Academics, policy-makers and pundits are dedicating lots of resources to analysing the way in which technological advances are unleashing new capabilities, and may transform the very nature of work.

Anxiety about massive job loss due to technological substitution is, in many cases, driving this agenda.

It’s not the first time that technological job loss has generated concern. At the beginning of the 19th century, with the wide spread of new industrial machines, members of an English radical movement, the Luddites, destroyed weaving machinery that threatened to replace human labour.

But as it turned out, neither the introduction of textile machinery at that time, nor the mechanisation of agricultural labour in the early 20th century, led to massive unemployment. History is clear: the world has faced significant economic transformations in the past, and labour markets have navigated them successfully.

How is that possible?

jobs, tellers had less to do with routine, cash-handling tasks, and had to invest more time in cognitively and socially demanding jobs, such as personalised problem solving and finding new clients.

In this case, technological transformation didn’t reduce the amount of work people do; instead, it transformed the nature of that work.

Will it be different this time?

There are fears that the new wave of technological change (artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning) may have a major impact in terms of job loss. Some numbers are scary: according to McKinsey & Company, half of today’s occupations may disappear due to automation in both the developing and developed world.

But more recent estimates with a finer break-down by tasks and activities suggest that this risk may actually be much lower than feared, amounting to less than 10% in EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and developed countries1.

The case of the ATM Technology does not necessarily reduce the number of jobs. In fact, it can create new ones.

The introduction of automated teller machines (ATMs) in the labour market, for instance, did not result in widespread job losses. On the contrary: since then the number of human bank tellers in the US has doubled. As expected, ATMs took over many of the tasks that human tellers used to do. But gains in productivity were so high that banks opened new branches and more jobs were created. In these new

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

1

AfDB, ADB, EBRD, IDB (African Development Bank Group, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inter-American Development Bank). 2018. The Future of Work: Regional Perspectives. Washington, DC

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sanjagrujic / shutterstock.com

The introduction of automated teller machines (ATMs) in the labour market did not result in widespread job losses

Trends in Trinidad and Tobago There is not much consensus regarding the magnitude of these risks in Trinidad and Tobago. Despite this uncertainty, we can identify three trends that will intensify for sure, and will shape the challenges that lie ahead in the labour market.

First, globalisation will maintain its unstoppable pace, linking markets, cultures and people around the world. It may even be intensified by technological progress.

As a small, open economy, Trinidad and Tobago will have to invest in the talent of its workforce, ensuring that workers have the right skills to be competitive internationally. Competition will be fierce, but the opportunities will be enormous.

Second, aging will intensify, and this process will be quite rapid. By 2050, almost 30% of the population in Trinidad and Tobago will be over 60, and 15% will be over 80. This will lead to growing pressure on social security systems, especially health and pensions. Workers will probably need to retire later, meaning they will have to update their skills to stay relevant for longer as technology evolves. Lifelong learning and adult education will have to become a norm.

And finally, as discussed earlier, while technological progress may not reduce the number of jobs, it will very likely transform their nature. Demand for skills in which machines have a comparative advantage, such as routine, predictable work, will decrease. And skills in which humans have the comparative advantage will have a greater economic value. Effective communication, creativity, and problem-solving will become more relevant as technology facilitates basic tasks and automation gathers pace.

Being prepared The future of work is uncertain. But countries like Trinidad and Tobago have the chance to shape their future by being ready for whatever may happen. They can take advantage of all the opportunities that technological progress provides,

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investing in the talent of their people and mitigating the risks for those workers who may suffer.

This means having a stronger education and TVET [technical/ vocational education and training] system, in which soft skills are part of the equation. Workers can then be trained and retrained to remain globally competitive, with the private sector as a partner.

This also means building strong and well-designed labour market policies, such as employment services, that help job seekers and adult workers in their employment trajectories and mitigate risks for those who are more vulnerable.

And finally, it means adjusting the health and pensions system to the demands of an aging society, so that future generations do not pay most of the bills.

Nothing prevents Trinidad and Tobago from rising to these challenges.

It can be done.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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ADVERTORIAL Gerard Scott, Manager, Employee Benefits, Sagicor Life Inc Trinidad and Tobago operations

Every single member of our group health or individual health insurance plans gets a card, and users can access some of the benefits of their health insurance contract via this easily identifiable blue and green card.

The benefits are many, but this multifunctional card allows our plan members with Sagicor health insurance to enjoy three main things:

Sagicor and your health insurance Gerard Scott, Manager of the Employee Benefits department of Sagicor Life Inc, with responsibility for group and individual health policies, talks about Sagicor and its CariCARE card Sagicor is the leading financial services provider in the Caribbean, operating in 23 countries including the USA and Latin America. It dates back to 1840. We offer a wide range of products and services, including life, health and general insurance, banking, pensions, annuities and real estate.

Choosing health insurance wisely is one of the most important decisions an individual, a family or a company can make. Sagicor is the only insurer with a threepronged multifunctional approach to help modernise access to your health insurance benefits.

This is facilitated by our CariCARE card, which has always been part of our health insurance programmes, but was revamped to encompass so much more in 2014.

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1.

The international toll-free numbers on the back of the card allow access to emergency healthcare if the plan member is faced with a medical emergency threatening to life and limb while travelling outside Trinidad and Tobago. The core network and global network of international hospitals are available at http://sagicor.cmn-global.com.

2.

The magnetic strip on the back of the card is encoded with the name of the plan member and his/her group or individual health contract number.

The magnetic strip is used when swiping the card in Trinidad and Tobago only, and users can have the portion of their claim that is covered by their health plan paid immediately. Local providers with this facility are accessible at our website at https://my.sagicor.com/groupweb/ProviderList.aspx.

3.

The Medicard logo on the back of the card allows plan members to receive discounts locally once they show the logo at participating institutions. Medicard discount partners are listed on the Medicard website, www.medicardlimited. com. While any member of the public can purchase a plan from Medicard, our health insurance plan members get this discount facility free, simply by being a member of a Sagicor health plan. It not only saves you money on medical, dental, and vison claims, but also gives you the added value on discounts with non-insurance items.

So whenever you consider your health insurance needs, think Sagicor and its distinctive CariCARE card. Sagicor provides you with wise financial thinking for life.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

The future of money They are steadily creeping through the Caribbean: new forms of currency, new ways of paying for things, young companies shaping their own niches in this new “fintech” market. Have you topped up your digital wallet yet?

WORDS By: NATALIE DOOKIE

I

n 2017 three young tech entrepreneurs came together to form a company called CariCrypto Limited, aiming to make cryptocurrencies more accessible and usable in Trinidad and Tobago.

They offered the first advisory services for buying, storing and selling over 1,000 cryptocurrencies (digital encrypted currencies). These services are especially useful for people unfamiliar with the financial technology (fintech) market, but who want to invest securely in blockchain “digital ledger” assets.

CariCrypto bridges this knowledge gap by taking care of security – assets are held in cold storage hardware digital wallets – and liquidity issues. It is also working on an investment fund for local and international clients, secured against blockchain assets.

Dr Christian Stone, one of the co-founders of CariCrypto, recalls that the lack of local regulation made their approval process complicated. “We had to source international banking partners, as many of the local banks denied our request to open accounts because of the lack of regulatory direction.”

Another co-founder, Jordan Millar, predicts that the initial impact in the Caribbean will be seen in countries where most people do not have access to electronic banking. “Programmable money drastically reduces the middleman in several areas. Wherever a contract is used to legally bind people, cryptocurrency can and will likely be disruptive, ranging from asset transfers to insurance contracts.”

He expects that Trinidad and Tobago will lag behind for some time. But people will still be able to take advantage of technological innovation in the blockchain ecosystem through CariCrypto, because of its decentralised and non-discriminatory nature.

SugaPay Another of CariCrypto’s co-founders is Marc Persaud, who is also Group Manager, Strategy and Business Development, for the ECH Group of Companies, headquartered in Antigua. ECH too is on the cutting edge of the Caribbean fintech industry, having launched SugaPay, a digital mobile wallet, in 2013.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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courtesy Caricrypto

This electronic financial transaction system allows users to operate in a cashless environment by using an app on their mobile phone to access and manipulate funds. From this single, central digital location, users can perform transactions that would normally require cash, such as merchant purchases, bill payments, topping up mobile phones, and even government business like paying for driver’s permits and work visas.

Verification of transactions, to ensure that they are compliant, is undertaken

by ECH’s sister company Global Processing Centre, the only indigenous international processing centre in the region.

Persaud says: “This technology has just begun to infiltrate the Caribbean. The major driver is the millions of persons who are unbanked or underbanked, and limited to a cash-only system. This digital model has proven to be a powerful catalyst for economic growth in other developing markets.”

One of SugaPay’s unique features is that its digital mobile wallet offers customers several physical touch points, including the use of an ATM card. Since its launch in Trinidad and Tobago in 2017, SugaPay has worked initially with local credit unions, which for the first time will be able to offer their members access to a fully integrated payment ecosystem.

SugaPay already has a presence in Montserrat, with plans for Jamaica, Barbados, Suriname and Guyana. “Although Trinidad and Tobago has one of the highest GDPs in the Caribbean,” Persaud says, “it lags behind some of our sister islands in the adoption of technology. So introducing new fintech and building demand for a seismic shift of this nature has been challenging.”

Dr. Christian Stone, co-founder, CariCrypto Ltd

Jordan Millar, co-founder, CariCrypto Ltd

courtesy Caricrypto

Launched in Trinidad and Tobago in 2017, WiPay allows users to convert cash to digital currency, which can be used to make electronic payments online wherever WiPay is accepted. People excluded from digital transactions because they did not have a credit card, debit card or bank account, have been the most affected so far.With operations expanding Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and St. Lucia, WiPay has worked with several local and regional corporations and the Trinidad and Tobago government.

Payment platforms are integrated by combining the services of the regulated financial institutions with WiPay’s proprietary technology. Point-of-sales terminals can now be integrated with the most commonly used card payment terminals.

WiPay also provides distinctive wristbands to facilitate contactless payments.

In addition, it’s new “pay with a smile” concept allows users to combine biometrics with a 4-digit PIN in order to make payments. As part of an initiative with the judiciary in Trinidad and Tobago, CourtPay was launched in April 2018, to introduce digital payments to the process of making and collecting maintenance payments, with plans to add court fines and fees.

Aldwyn Wayne, WiPay’s CEO, says: “WiPay is expanding its services across the Caribbean and to other developing countries. We want to provide financial inclusion for people from all walks of life. We want to become the trusted digital financial network connecting Caribbean people as well as the diaspora.”

courtesy jordan millar

WiPay

Bitt Bitt, a fintech company based in Barbados, is focused on financial inclusion in the Caribbean, particularly for the unbanked and underbanked. By reducing the cost of payments and transfers, including remittances, Bitt can help countries reduce their reliance on the US dollar for trade, thus improving the ease of doing business in the Caribbean, and safeguarding foreign reserves.

www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine

Marc Persaud, co-founder, CariCrypto Ltd and Manager, ECH Group

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

23

THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

courtesy Wipay

Bitt’s chief economist, Marla Dukharan, explains the economic benefits. “We are taking our digital currency development a step further by creating a digital regional settlement network, which can virtually eliminate the need for hard currency to conduct cross-border financial transactions intra-regionally, thereby solving the derisking problem for intra-regional financial transactions.”

Bitt is supporting regional governments and central banks to develop blockchain-based solutions with a view to increasing efficiency in the delivery of public services, and improving transparency, thereby reducing corruption and ultimately creating a more supportive business environment. It is eagerly awaiting the Trinidad and Tobago Central Bank’s new regulatory framework for the digital financial space, and welcomes the updating of legal and regulatory frameworks across the region.

Bitcoin

courtesy marla dukharan

Aldwyn Wayne, CEO, WiPay

The prominent Trinidad and Tobago businessman Peter George is chairman of Bitt.

Bitcoin is already accepted at his Port of Spain restaurants Trotters, Prime and Buzo Osteria Italiana.

To use this payment method, a customer must first acquire some bitcoin, a cryptocurrency which is stored in a digital wallet. The coin is then transferred electronically from the consumer’s wallet to the business’s wallet, using cryptography.

To be quick and seamless, this requires solid internet communications and data strength.

The main advantage of using bitcoin is the opportunity it gives the underserved to access financial services without excessive bank fees and regulations. Costs are much lower than with credit and debit cards: bitcoin transaction fees range from as little as 0.001–0.002%.

“For now,” says George, “there has not been a great material impact. When we first introduced the concept we had many transactions using bitcoin, but this has since waned, as now people view it more as an investment than a trading currency.”

While the current fluctuations in value are not entirely abnormal for a nascent financial instrument, George believes bitcoin will eventually settle at between US$250,000 and $1,000,000 per bitcoin. With value up by 750,000% from US$0.009 in 2010, further movement from US$7,000 to US$250,000 is not impossible.

However, George expects that the price of bitcoin will eventually stabilise, making it more functional as a currency.

Marla Dukharan, chief economist, Bitt

Term Finance

Bitt supports traditional financial institutions, such as regional central banks, with its solution for minting and issuing digital fiat currency. This digital cash can be used in much the same way as traditional currency, to make purchases, pay bills, or send and receive money, using Bitt’s mobile wallet and merchant/teller application on a tablet or smartphone. This innovation will reduce operating costs for central banks, and allow more efficient access to financial services for the entire population.

As well as making payments in digital currency, you can take out loans online these days. Term Finance, a relatively new entrant to the Trinidad and Tobago financial market, is a completely web-based credit business, offering responsible loans to employees of reputable organisations, and to small and medium-sized businesses.

The firm started its online lending operations in Trinidad and Tobago in 2015, and has since expanded to Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica. It has acquired a microfinance licence in St Lucia, and plans to go live in that market by the end of 2018.

To date, from a central processing centre in Trinidad, Term Finance has disbursed more than 10,000 loans across the Caribbean, using only digital channels to access and engage customers.

Oliver Sabga is the co-founder and CEO of Term Finance, which recently engaged an international consultant to build a Financial Wellness Module which will deliver training to customers via their smart-phones. “Initially it was challenging to acquire customers through solely digital means, but by staying true to our objectives, our team developed strong digital competencies, and as a result our cost base remains very controlled. This has allowed us to adapt and react swiftly to market developments and threats.”

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

The challenge of digital marketing If you still have any doubts about whether you need to take your business into the complex world of digital marketing ... read on!

WORDS By: KAREL Mc INTOSH Director of Training & Marketing at Livewired Group

D

igital marketing has been part pariah, part mystery, in boardrooms across Trinidad and Tobago since its inception. To some extent, it still is.

But significantly more companies have been hopping on the bandwagon. Why? Firstly, there’s peer pressure – almost everyone is using it. Secondly, brands go where people spend their time. And then there’s the main attraction – cheaper advertising costs than traditional media (music to the finance department’s ears).

Whatever their reasons may be, it’s the right move to make.

Follow the people Trinidad and Tobago has 770,000 monthly active Facebook users between the ages of 18 and 65, according to Facebook’s data. Sixty-one per cent of them use Facebook every day, according to 2017 research from Hootsuite, one of the planet’s largest digital marketing automation tools. And the figure may have increased since then. So it makes sense to use social media.

Reaching the right audiences in the right place at the right time has always been at the heart of marketing. Today, that means reaching them on the internet.

The term “digital marketing” covers all efforts that use an electronic device or the internet. Your digital marketing mix can include anything from your website, text messages, digital ads, e-mail and mobile apps, to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Social media is the component that most local companies use. Not many have apps, but most have at least a Facebook page.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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Surveying Trinbago’s social media landscape will take you from big brands like Massy, ANSA McAL, Unit Trust, Courts, Carib, and AA Laquis, to SMEs like WrapWorks Deli, TCJ Events, and Amara Organics.

The industry is growing up, but digital marketing maturity varies across brands.

Some companies are adept, while others struggle due to limited vision or resources.

New features and algorithms are rolled out almost every month, and businesses are challenged to keep up, or lose traction.

One company which began using pro-social media early, in 2009, is the Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Finance Company (TTMF).

“We started with Facebook, which was the fastest-growing platform, and saw immediate success,” says Robert Green, TTMF’s CEO. “Our base grew and customers were engaged – commenting, posting, giving feedback. The next step was to explore other platforms: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube – all of which are now part of our marketing strategy.

“Social media has significantly increased brand awareness, it is cost-efficient, and it provides us with data on its usage so we can better communicate with customers.”

TTMF is not alone.

Big brands like Carib (beer) and Massy Motors, and SMEs like WrapWorks Deli, have been leveraging digital marketing for greater gains.

“Social media has played a critical role in improving the health of our brand,” says Antron Forte, Marketing Manager at Carib. “It has allowed our campaigns to become full 360-degree campaigns, with social media as the glue that connects everything. It’s a vehicle to share messages with consumer segments, and it facilitates engagement and feedback.”

Natalie Karamath, CEO, Massy Motors

courtesy gerard edwards

Digital marketing maturity

courtesy natalie karamath

“There is no rebellion or subversion, just quiet and respectful conformance to the rules”

Gerard Edwards, CEO, WrapWorks

Aligning creative content, audience reach, data, and business and marketing strategies, is key. One small business which is blending digital and social media effectively is WrapWorks Deli.

“From day one, I realized that to reach my target audiences, with the most bang for my buck, I had to leverage social media in tandem with other forms of marketing,” explains Gerard Edwards, owner of WrapWorks Deli. “The ability to reach new customers, and engage with existing ones, all using self-explanatory tools, is what makes digital and social media marketing so powerful.”

Edwards used data insights, gleaned from WrapWorks’ social media channels, to get a reality check about his business and which marketing areas to scale up or down. Based on this, and to improve customer experience, WrapWorks created a mobile app for orders and curb-side pickups, and promotes the app and daily specials with digital ads at a scale he could never have afforded via traditional media.

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courtesy robert green

Make data your friend

Robert Green, CEO, TTMF Company

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

“Companies have to rise to the challenge of finding engaging content” The content challenge

Courting algorithms

Brands can use digital tools, but if they lack creative, strategic content, they will underperform. Many still need to dramatically improve their content.

Marketers are overwhelmed by social media’s appetite for content, and some sidestep the challenge.

Natalie Karamath, CEO of Massy Motors, embraces it. “In the past, traditional media led to the generation of static campaigns,” she says. “But now campaigns are evolving, and companies have to rise to the challenge of finding engaging content.” Brands have to ask themselves, “What would customers like? Am I adding value, or am I just bombarding them with ads?”

The inability to produce helpful content isn’t necessarily due to laziness.

People struggle to create quality content consistently – especially when the department is understaffed, or they’re subject to the whims of executives who don’t understand social media, or there’s no budget for visuals, or they have tight deadlines and no wiggle room.”

However, brands can manage this better by creating a content ratio, using automation tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sendible, and using design tools like Canva.

Using a content ratio that balances brand building (e.g. tips and corporate messages), and sales activation (e.g. deals and promos), will give audiences value. It builds long-term growth, while generating the short-term sales spikes required to meet quarterly goals.

Businesses need to be adept at navigating algorithms and the content they like.

Facebook, for example, favours native video. Video ads also cost less than image ads.

Karamath agrees. “We can produce and air content at a lower cost than on television,” she says. “Visual content is so much more appealing than text for so many of our customers.”

Of course, social media isn’t without its risks. Internet trolls and unverified rumours move quickly, leaving companies scrambling to put out fires. “There are many times when followers make assumptions or post incorrect information,” Karamath explains. This is why businesses must hire trained people to manage their digital networks. Customer response requires not just agility, but also nuanced strategic responses.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

The future Despite its risks, digital marketing is here to stay. And it is forcing marketers and entrepreneurs to become business strategists. With its built-in steps for measurement, they have to connect the dots and prove results. And as long as brands improve their content and strategies, leverage data, and build better service systems, they are on their way.

Nurture a culture of experimentation – a big ask for corporate Trinidad and Tobago, but crucial for digital marketing

Invest. Social media is cheaper than traditional media, but it still requires sufficient funding

Balance short and long-term goals

5

1 Still trying to improve your digital strategy?

Try these steps

2 Craft your content ratio

4

3

Build measurement trackers into content, e.g. web links, Facebook pixel, or discount codes

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

How far have we come?

Trinidad and Tobago can take credit for travelling a good way along the road to digital transformation, even if there is much further still to go WORDS By: tracy hackshaw ICT and Digital Economy Strategist; Chair, Internet Society, Trinidad and Tobago Chapter

JAN 2018

DIGITAL IN TRINIDAD & TOBAGO A SNAPSHOT OF THE COUNTRY’S KEY DIGITAL STATISTICAL INDICATORS

TOTAL POPULATION

1.37

H

MILLION

ow is Trinidad & Tobago faring on its digital journey?

Let’s take a look at some hard data, as presented in the most recent comprehensive analysis of Trinidad and Tobago’s digital footprint1.

The digital landscape

Our internet penetration has reached 1 million (or 73 per cent of the population), up 6 per cent (59,000 people) over 2017.

Our social media activity rate is 58 per cent (or 0.8 million people), with mobile social penetration at a startling 51 per cent (or 0.7 million people). The now relatively useless metric of mobile penetration remains at a relatively high 136 per cent (1.87 million connections).

1

“We Are Social - Digital Report 2018.”

Accessed June 25, 2018. digitalreport. wearesocial.com.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

URBANISATION:

8%

INTERNET USERS

ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA USERS

MOBILE CONNECTIONS

ACTIVE MOBILE SOCIAL USERS

1.00

0.80

1.87

0.70

MILLION

PENETRATION:

73%

MILLION

MILLION

PENETRATION:

MILLION

vs. POPULATION:

58%

PENETRATION:

136%

51%

Trinidad and Tobago’s digital footprint, January 2018 (wearesocial) JAN 2018

ANNUAL DIGITAL GROWTH YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE IN KEY STATISTICAL INDICATORS

INTERNET USERS

+6%

ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA USERS

MOBILE CONNECTIONS

ACTIVE MOBILE SOCIAL USERS

+4%

+2%

+3%

SINCE JAN 2017

SINCE JAN 2017

SINCE JAN 2017

SINCE JAN 2017

+59 THOUSAND

+30 THOUSAND

+43 THOUSAND

+20 THOUSAND

Annual digital growth in Trinidad & Tobago, January 2018 (wearesocial)

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JAN 2018

SOCIAL MEDIA USE

BASED ON THE MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS REPORTED BY THE MOST ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM IN EACH COUNTRY

TOTAL NUMBER OF ACTIVE SOCIAL MEDIA USERS

800.0 THOUSAND

ACTIVE SOCIAL USERS AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL POPULATION

58%

TOTAL NUMBER OF SOCIAL USERS ACCESSING VIA MOBILE

ACTIVE MOBILE SOCIAL USERS AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL POPULATION

700.0

51%

THOUSAND

NOTE: PENETRATION FIGURES ARE FOR TOTAL POPULATION, REGARDLESS OF AGE.

Social media usage in Trinidad and Tobago, January 2018 (wearesocial)

JAN 2018

SHARE OF WEB TRAFFIC BY DEVICE BASED ON EACH DEVICE’S SHARE OF ALL WEB PAGES SERVED TO WEB BROWSERS

LAPTOPS & DESKTOPS

49% YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE:

-19%

MOBILE PHONES

41% YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE:

+38%

TABLET DEVICES

OTHER DEVICES

9%

0.61%

YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE:

YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE:

+1%

+42%

Share of web traffic by device in Trinidad and Tobago (wearesocial)

JAN 2018

FINANCIAL INCLUSION FACTORS

PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION AGED 15+ THAT REPORTS OWNING OR USING EACH FINANCIAL PRODUCT OR SERVICE HAS A BANK ACCOUNT

76% PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN WITH A CREDIT CARD

13%

HAS A CREDIT CARD

15% PERCENTAGE OF MEN WITH A CREDIT CARD

18%

MAKES AND / OR RECEIVES MOBILE PAYMENTS VIA GSMA

MAKES ONLINE PURCHASES AND / OR PAYS BILLS ONLINE

[N/A]

[N/A]

PERCENTAGE OF WOMEN MAKING INTERNET PAYMENTS

PERCENTAGE OF MEN MAKING INTERNET PAYMENTS

[N/A]

[N/A]

Financial inclusion factors in Trinidad and Tobago (wearesocial)

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While social media usage is high, the real story is the number of users accessing social media on mobile devices (700,000 of the total number of 800,000, and 51 per cent of the population).

Also interesting is the spread of internet users across devices – 41 per cent on mobile (up 38 per cent yearon-year) compared with 49 per cent (down year-on-year) on laptops and desktops.

But while the access situation is fairly healthy, digital commerce is less so. Digital commerce on the internet – mobile or otherwise – is driven by the level of digital financial inclusion, and there are fundamental gaps there.

While 76 per cent of the population have a bank account, and presumably a debit card, only 15 per cent have a credit card.

Coupled with an underdeveloped electronic payments environment, this has led to the development of creative solutions to facilitate electronic transactions; as a result, received foreign exchange is being “trapped” in expensive credit card facilities or in overseas bank accounts. A significant percentage of these receipts cannot be repatriated to Trinidad and Tobago. Instead of the positive disruption that a robust electronic/mobile payments process would normally produce, we are seeing negative distortions.

Simon Fraser, Lecturer in Management Information Systems at The University of the West Indies, suggests that “the success of traditional measures might be acting as inhibitors to uptake on newer systems.”

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

JAN 2018

MOBILE CONNECTIONS BY TYPE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF CELLULAR CONNECTIONS ( NOTE: NOT UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS)

TOTAL NUMBER OF MOBILE CONNECTIONS

1.87

MILLION

MOBILE CONNECTIONS AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION

PERCENTAGE OF MOBILE CONNECTIONS THAT ARE PRE-PAID

136%

86%

PERCENTAGE OF MOBILE CONNECTIONS THAT ARE POST-PAID

PERCENTAGE OF MOBILE CONNECTIONS THAT ARE BROADBAND (3G & 4G)

14%

30%

NOTE: PENETRATION FIGURES ARE FOR TOTAL POPULATION, REGARDLESS OF AGE.

Mobile connections by type in Trinidad and Tobago (wearesocial)

Telecommunications environment

Upload and download speeds

Trinidad and Tobago shows clear early signs of readiness to participate in the global digital economy, including a relatively robust telecommunications environment.

Submarine cable mapping authorities chart six major international submarine cable landings, and one between Trinidad and Tobago, allowing significant internet bandwidth2.

Two internet exchange points (IXPs), run by the Trinidad and Tobago Internet Exchange Company Ltd. (TTIX), are located in north and south Trinidad3. There are two domain name system (DNS) root servers4 and two major global content caching services5. Both mobile carriers6 7 have implemented 4G LTE networks, and one carrier is proposing to roll out WTTx to facilitate LTE speeds and broadband access in rural areas8.

Five known data centres have been established: Fujitsu (North), TSTT (East), C&W Communications (Central), Digicel (Central), and Airlink (South). Two are fully carrier-neutral. A sixth centre is planned for Tobago.

Based on data compiled by Michele Marius of ICT Pulse9, as of May 2018, Trinidad and Tobago is ranked second in the Caribbean for fixed upload speeds, at 18.72 Mbps, an increase of 3.35 Mbps over 2017. Our global ranking is 43.

This compares with Barbados, ranked first in the Caribbean and 22nd in the world at 32.09 Mbps, a rise of 10 Mbps; and Jamaica, third in the Caribbean and 79th in the world, with upload speeds in excess of 10.35 Mbps.

Averaged across the Caribbean countries examined, upload speeds increased by around 45 per cent, or approximately 3.1 Mbps, in 2017-18, from around 7.8 Mbps in July 2017 to 10.9 Mbps in May 2018.

According to Marius, in most countries examined, download speeds were at least twice the upload speed. The exceptions were Jamaica and Belize, where the ratio of upload to download speed was 1:1.90 for Jamaica and 1:1.26 for Belize.

In terms of pricing and affordability, Marius’s research10 found that only Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados offered 1 Gbps residential internet packages (priced monthly at US$282.02 and $297.50 respectively). But, applying a monthly threshold of US$60, the best value was found in Barbados, where for US$60.00 per month a plan with an advertised download speed of up to 240 Mbps was available. The next fastest plans at US$60 or under, 100 Mbps and 75 Mbps, were found in Aruba and Trinidad and Tobago, at approximately US$55.30 and US$59.26 respectively.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

“Submarine Cable Map.” Accessed June 25, 2018. https://www. submarinecablemap.com/.

“TTIX2 is born! – Trinidad and Tobago Internet Exchange Limited.”

Accessed June 25, 2018. https://ix.tt/ttix2-is-born/.

“Trinidad Root Servers Live! – Trinidad and Tobago Internet Exchange ....”

Accessed June 25, 2018. https://ix.tt/trinidad-root-servers-live/.

“Cache services live at TTIX – Trinidad and Tobago Internet Exchange ....”

Accessed June 25, 2018. https://ix.tt/cache-services-now-live-at-ttix/.

“Digicel promises LTE for mid-year deployment - Tech News TT.” Accessed June 25, 2018. https://technewstt.com/pr-digicel-lte/. “bmobile announces increased LTE coverage - Tech News TT.” Accessed June 25, 2018. https://technewstt.com/pr-bmobile-4glte-update/.

“TSTT reaches into rural homes with WTTx | The Trinidad Guardian ....” Accessed June 25, 2018. http://www.guardian.co.tt/businessguardian/2018-06-21/tstt-reaches-rural-homes-wttx.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

9

10

“Snapshot: actual Internet upload speeds from across the ... - ICT Pulse.”

Accessed June 25, 2018. http://www.ict-pulse.com/2018/06/snapshotactual-internet-upload-speeds-caribbean-2018/.

“Snapshot: 2018 update of Internet speeds and pricing ... - ICT Pulse.”

Accessed June 25, 2018. http://www.ict-pulse.com/2018/05/snapshot2018-update-internet-speeds-pricing-caribbean/.

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Entrepreneurs There is a relatively small but quickly growing internet entrepreneurship sector, with specific e-business pure plays like TriniTrolley, HubBox, D’Market Movers, ChefMade, DropTaxi, and Ticktr; intermediaries like WiPay, Paywise and WebGold; and e-commerce extensions of traditional businesses like Courts, Excellent Stores, Sports & Games, Digicel, bmobile, and companies focused on the country’s massive cultural industry, local and overseas – Tribe/Ultimate Events, Island E-Tickets, TriniJungleJuice, and others.

The public sector Despite the ongoing economic challenges facing the government, the public sector has been some progress.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has steadily developed the TTBizLink Single Electronic Window (SEW) for trade facilitation. This represents collaboration between 24 unique agencies from seven ministries, together with the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC).

Through the modules available on TTBizLink, 47 e-applications are available which are currently being used by over 7,200 registered users.

TTBizLink will seek to add 16 more e-services, including the ability to file annual returns to the Companies Registry online rather than using the current manual process.

Implementation is financed through a US$25 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed in 2016.

Several ICT-related consultancies have been put out for tender or are already being executed, including the recent automation of the construction permitting system (ConstrucTT), coupled with digitisation of key Town & Country Planning Division records.

The TTBizLink project is financing the outstanding regulatory items to allow the government (specifically the Treasury Division and the revenue-receiving agencies) to conduct electronic gransactions with its various stakeholders, using the most prevalent forms of electronic payment available locally.

For Part 2 of Tracy Hackshaw’s survey, see page 38

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

www.chamber.org.tt/contact-magazine

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

33

THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

What’s next for T&T? As the world races into a digital age, what shocks should Trinidad and Tobago be preparing itself for?

WORDS By: Atiba phillips Lead Consultant and ICT for Development Strategist, INFOCOMM Technologies Limited

A

s new technologies sweep around the world, Trinidad and Tobago firms need to develop, deploy and use some of them in a way that can produce transformation and benefits to the economy within the next five to seven years. The question is: which ones?

Artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR)

AI, and to a lesser extent VR, are buzzwords at the moment, applied to everything from speakers to cell phones, computers and cars.

There will always be a place for replicating the decision patterns of experts and transferring human intelligence to automated systems.

True autonomous machine learning, however, requires data – and lots of it.

Machines learn by storing every transaction and interaction, forming trends and analysing patterns, gathering feedback from new scenarios, until they can suggest and implement responses without a human agent intervening.

Local development houses will have to navigate through database and cloud solutions before reaching revenue-generating AI and commercially viable virtual reality.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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Fintech and Blockchain There are problems with blockchain and crypto-currencies. The infrastructure required to establish crypto-currencies in the Caribbean is mostly absent. Some of the key factors here are: • Lack of financial and technology savvy in much of the market. Not enough people in the Caribbean know enough about the technology, or have access to sufficient speculatory cash balances, to take their first steps into crypto-currency trading.

sdecoret / shutterstock.com

• The irrevocable nature of transactions. When a transaction is done on a ledger, it is irrevocable unless all parties agree otherwise.

There is no ombudsman or regulator to compel a participant to change. And if an encryption key is lost, balances can be permanently unavailable.

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•

Distribution architecture. There has to be heavy investment in a network of vendors, ATMs and other infrastructure to enable democratised access to the system.

•

Convertibility and liquidity. A key constraint in the Caribbean. This will require the collaboration of the central and commercial banks, which are well behind institutionally.

Much better understood e-money and e-payment solutions are still not universally offered in the Caribbean 10 to 15 years after being available around the world. This has affected domestic businesses, and has stymied private sector investment in digital technology.

Still, there is a great opportunity for improvement in areas where there has been little change in operational modality. Insurance, healthcare, and government services are among sectors ripe for disruption with the application of (now common) technologies such as cloud, digital payments, mobile, and video conferencing. These will need to become mainstream over the next five years if Trinidad and Tobago is not to be disenfranchised in the wider global digital economy.

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

Electronic vehicles (EVs) EVs represent a trend that is burgeoning globally, and Trinidad and Tobago has the right mix: a history of industrialisation, a global energy brand, an enviable base, and the capacity to produce relevant engineers.

What we need to add to this is vision and investment, which could bring a world of reward from the global market if we act soon.

We need a national mandate to convert a certain percentage of vehicles to electric within a given time frame, and initiatives by the government and private sector to partner with up-and-coming players to develop unique electronically powered vehicles for emerging and developing markets.

track the data-trail of transactions.

This in itself would lead to a circle of benefit-generating local employment, lowering the cost of doing business, generating historical data for improved decision-making and statistical analysis, and producing new data-based revenue models which could even be exportable.

Data as the new asset

Protecting the net

It is widely trumpeted that data is the new oil. But, unlike a barrel of oil, the value of a piece of data is directly proportional to the amount of data which can be related to it, and to an individual company’s ability to monetise those relationships. That ability differs vastly between companies, and varies with the amount of data held, the company’s installed base of customers, and the convenience of its payment transaction processes.

Other important factors are the tech savviness of customer markets, data protection laws, intellectual property rights enforcement, and data warehousing capacity and security.

These factors turn out to mean that a marginal piece of data in the hands of a large company in a technology-developed environment (say, Google) is likely to be worth more than that same piece of data in the hands of a local SME. Nevertheless, Google and the like can be beaten in areas where localised data matters. Imagine if we held all the geo-seismic exploration data generated over the years on our own oil- and gas-generating offshore shelf (instead of it being held overseas).

Imagine if we were producing better than average images, and processing algorithms (read AI algorithms) of soil formations which were appreciably better at determining the size and scope of oil and gas deposits.

Then we wouldn’t bother too much about running out of oil ourselves.

As Trinidad and Tobago feels its way forward, there are certain threats to take note of, especially the loss of net neutrality.

Net neutrality says that all data on the internet should be treated equally, without discrimination or charging differentials by content, application, platform or type of user.

The term “over the top” is used by the telecommunications community for data services and applications which threaten (or may threaten) their existing or projected lines of business.

For instance, ISPs have threatened to ban the use of android boxes over their networks.

This raises complex questions. For instance, how do they differentiate android box traffic from YouTube traffic? Will they develop “deep packet inspection” to determine exactly what traffic emanates from the wireless router in your home? After banning android box traffic, what will be next?

This issue has far-reaching implications. Any regional application which gains a critical mass, and thus drives significant network traffic, could be at the mercy of telecommunication providers wishing to impose a “tax” on them for having a service with unfettered access to the network.

We must invest in a technologycapable Trinidad and Tobago. But we must also choose the way forward wisely. Decisions made today will directly affect the long-term viability of our economy and society.

The infrastructure required to establish crypto-currencies in the Caribbean is mostly absent Cloud solutions We really should not continue to cede our economic power to foreign governments and companies. In this regard, a focus on cloud-based solutions and platforms – which harness our own data – is critical to the way forward.

Adopting cloud-based solutions in each sector could coordinate the actors better, improve collaboration and exchange efficiencies, exploit e-services, and

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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D’ Market Movers Small businesses too face the challenge of reinventing themselves. D’ Market Movers took a traditionally offline experience and put it online. The traditional Sunday market experience of buying fresh produce, meat and dairy was brought into the online world.

The goal was to have people go online, order, and have their produce delivered directly to their homes.

D’Market Movers developed a workable business model and the processes to make it successful.

One of the key selling points is convenience. Busy consumers can replicate the experience of buying products in the market, but from the convenience of home. Another selling point is product quality. A network of farmers – all engaged in pesticide-free and organic farming – supplies the freshest products.

D’ Market Movers was awarded the EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year award at the 2016 Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Champions of Business programme.

courtesy excellent stores

Who’s afraid of digital?

Excellent Stores decided to emulate international online shopping sites

Excellent Stores Limited has six retail branches and a wholesale department. It celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, expanding its stores and opening a new one in St Lucia. It would be easy for a department store, using the traditional brick-andmortar retail model, to rail against the rise of online shopping. But Excellent Stores took a different approach. In July 2014, it launched its own online shopping service.

The Excellent Stores website adopted many of the features that were familiar to shoppers from large online retailers such as Amazon. A search feature allows users to easily find the products they want. Convenient shipping options deliver products directly to the customer’s door. Online credit card payment is backed by well-known financial institutions such as Scotiabank and First Atlantic Commerce.

Excellent Stores found ways to compete with international sites. It offered internationally known brands with local backup. It encouraged customers overseas to buy online for family and friends at home and to have the items delivered directly to them. In this way, the store sought to reinvent itself for the online age.

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courtesy d market movers

Excellent Stores

Interviews by Anil Ramnanan, Director, Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

37

THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

Our digital “to-do” list There are specific issues which Trinidad and Tobago needs to deal with if it is to be truly competitive in the global digital world WORDS By: tracy hackshaw

E

arlier in this issue of Contact (see page 30), Trinidad and Tobago was shown to have a rapidly growing mobile digital population. Not all the news is positive, however. There are some hard-to-crack challenges which we need to overcome before we can consider ourselves fully equipped to compete in the global digital economy.

Skills mismatching Output from the traditional education system is proving to be inadequate to meet the needs of the ICT/digital sector, both in terms of domestic and international investment. We must find the correct formula to ensure we can sustainably produce the right numbers of the right skills.

Electronic payments systems Our risk-averse, deficient institutional and regulatory frameworks struggle to support robust and competitive electronic payment systems. This 20-year battle continues to confound both the private and public sectors and to mystify prospective e-commerce entrepreneurs. Efforts are being made to move things forward, both in the private and public sectors, but the pace is glacial. Meanwhile, our regional competitors have moved much further forward than we have.

The case of Uber is instructive. Whatever else we may think about Uber, its presence in Trinidad and Tobago – its only location in the English-speaking Caribbean – presented us with both a challenge and an opportunity.

Uber explained its operational “pause” in Trinidad and Tobago by saying that “at this time, we believe that there is a lack of a proper environment for innovation and technology to thrive in Trinidad and Tobago”. That should at least serve as a wake-up call as we seek to attract international investors in the digital sector.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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Tamana InTech Park

From the US diaspora, Matthew Talma, an engineering manager at Amazon and cofounder of Ticktr and M:Carnival Manager, observes: “[T]he sense that I get is that the government and business understand that technology can have a large impact [but] they are still struggling with the implementation of these technologies. This may not necessarily point to a lack of talent in the region but rather a problem in bridging the gap between developers and business owners.”

Talma believes that nurturing small business with a technology focus will help. “It solves the problem elegantly by giving technology developers real world experience in applying it to business problems. It is usually these companies that are able to disrupt larger ones. It will take a champion in the region to bring to light that this sort of disruption is possible.”

According to Dr Patrick Hosein, Professor of Computer Science at The University of the West Indies: “The latest ICT technologies are typically available locally, but these are not being used to their maximum potential ... Companies must be brave enough to make changes to decades-old processes and ignore the objections to these changes by those who would prefer to maintain the status quo.”

Simon Aqui, IBM’s regional executive in charge of Caribbean Financial Services (and most recently the Country Head responsible for Trinidad and Tobago’s IBM operations), recognises that there are movements towards digital transformation within the public sector, but thinks more must be done, and done faster.

“The public sector can lead the way through adoption of advanced ICT initiatives,” he says, “such as electronic/online payments, integrated systems (like ‘single sign on’ for all government services), open data and API presentation for companies to utilise back-end integration to government databases (payments, registries, etc). Relevant legislation and ICT-based incentives can also encourage businesses to confidently implement new technologies and services.”

Another regional professional with well over 30 years’ experience in Telecoms and ICT is direct in his assessment. “I don’t believe the government has treated ICT as a priority or as an enabler. Legislation that should have been changed years ago remains as is. I believe that unless the government makes it a priority to maximise investments such as the eTeck Park (at Tamana), we will not be considered a serious ICT player in the Caribbean region.”

1 2 3

Matthew Talma, engineering manager, Amazon

courtesy simon aqui

Implementation

courtesy matthew talma

In 2014, Cable & Wireless Communications (then Columbus Communications) earmarked Tamana InTech Park as a preferred location for a major regional data centre, similar to previous investments made in Curaçao and Colombia. This would have set the stage for Trinidad and Tobago to emerge as a regional hub and/or centre of excellence for data-related services, similar to the models and initiatives established

by ASEAN leaders Malaysia1 2 and Singapore3.

However, since little has been heard from either the government or Cable & Wireless regarding this project for some time, there are those who fear that a serious opportunity to develop Tamana into an active regional data hub is being missed.

Simon Aqui, IBM regional executive

ASEAN Data Analytics eXchange: ADAX.” Accessed June 25, 2018. http://adax.asia/.

“BDA - Digital Innovation Ecosystem I MDEC.” Accessed June 25, 2018. https://www.mdec.my/digitalinnovation-ecosystem/big-data-analytics.

“How Singapore plans to become Asia’s big data hub in 2018.” Accessed June 25, 2018. https://www. edb.gov.sg/en/news-and-resources/insights/talent/how-singapore-plans-to-become-asias-big-datahub-in-2018.html.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

39

THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

Indifference?

If Trinidad and Tobago is to truly advance in the global digital economy, our relatively indifferent attitude towards the ICT and digital services sector cannot continue.

The country needs a high-level official, an effective champion – preferably a minister with the ability to build consensus between the public and private sectors – who can be held accountable for the performance of the ICT and digital services sector. This accountability needs to be built into the government’s performance management framework, with ICT & digital services at the forefront of an overdue re-orienting and re-balancing of the local economy.

We need to collectively adopt participation in the global digital economy as a priority, competing on an equal footing with our international counterparts.

To do that, we must re-examine our approach to domestic and foreign investment in this sector. In the same way as the downstream energy sector was catalysed by the establishment of Point Lisas in the 1960s (with the subsequent involvement of the government), we need to place renewed emphasis on meaningful public-private partnerships where both sectors can derive tangible, sustainable value.

Trinidad and Tobago should be a hub or centre of excellence for ICT and digital services. While we certainly can’t “boil the ocean”, given the vast scope of this sector, we can take a sensible approach by selecting a few key areas of high global demand and focusing our energies towards developing and enhancing the necessary capacity.

The private sector In the private sector, business leaders must consciously and explicitly identify digital transformation as part of their strategic plans.

Jean-Paul Dookie, Executive Vice President in the regional operations of the Japanese multinational technology company Fujitsu, notes that “businesses and governments the world over are being impacted by digital disruption, where traditional business models and value propositions are under threat. Trinidad and Tobago is no different.”

The private sector “cannot take lightly the impact of the digital world we live in; and therefore this should be the top priority for leadership and strategic business planning. Driving business innovation, efficiency and new value propositions through digital co-creation, should be at the forefront of leader agendas.”

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

“The latest ICT technologies are typically available locally, but these are not being used to their maximum potential” Other public sector initiatives Integrated Financial Management Information System A Ministry of Finance project funded by a US$40 million IDB loan, this seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of financial management. Once implemented, it will ensure that budget decision-making and delivery is driven by smart data, with the desired positive impact, and meets the needs of all stakeholders.

Electronic procurement Likely to be introduced soon within central government.

TSTT has been using in-house electronic tenders software for several years now. TSTT and the National Information and Communication Technology Company (iGovTT) have signed an MOU to jointly market and promote the adoption of TSTT’s e-tender software as a service procurement portal by 22 ministries, 119 companies and 135 statutory bodies.

Global Services Promotion Programme The government wants to catalyse the local ICT & digitalenabled services sector through a programme of strategic and tactical interventions. Funded by another IDB loan (US$18 million) and executed by the Ministry of Planning and Development, the programme seeks to position Trinidad and Tobago as a prime location for global provision of IT-enabled services. The expected outcomes are increased exports and employment in the sector.

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courtesy nicholas maxwell

THE DIGITAL IMPERATIVE

Starting small Nicholas Maxwell

I used to do animation design, VFX motion graphics, 3D animation and graphic design as a freelancer, for advertising companies. But most of the production houses were doing editing and they were not pushing animation, and I always wanted to do more and one day have a company with my own employees and a niche in T&T. There is a lot of competition out there; I want to figure out how not just to compete with places like India but do it better. The clients who come to me have had their work shown globally: some of the KFC work we have done has won gold awards. Stuff for Guardian Life and Guinness has been premiered in Latin America and the US, so some things have gone global.

We have a way to go still. There is no support from the government, or private finance, or access to space.

I have to work from home, I can’t afford to rent a business place, or travel every day or get a car. Market size is a challenge. I am still overcoming that challenge to get the business stable so I can invest in equipment.

We are in an environment where the US dollar rules a lot of things, so we need to work six to ten times harder to afford the things needed for our businesses. Creators outside don’t have that disadvantage because it is 1:1. We have the opportunity to create our own style and look, but we need to up the quality of the work to attract international business.

We need to just keep on pushing forward and be professional, keep talking with clients, make use of the internet and free software, and chat a lot with people looking to enter the field.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

Mark Lyndersay /Lyndersaydigital.com

Owner and creative director, BigShinyPixel

Above right Nicholas Maxwell of BigShinyPixel Above The Coded Arts team with Andy Berahazar (centre)

Andy Berahazar Director, Coded Arts

We have been in business for two and a half years. Coded Arts is the result of a merger of a team of artists and a team of programmers both producing games under different banners. The teams started a partnership to develop a video game and quickly realised the synergies, and decided that the combined resources and skills of the teams would benefit from a merger.

Our “ah-ha” moment was two years ago at an animation festival where we met a few international game developers of Trini origin, and we saw a whole world of opportunities on the international stage.

Our main sector is ICT with a specific focus on video gaming development. We are carving a section for ourselves outsourcing space. It is a unique market that sees a huge demand for new talent regularly, and is very underserved in the Englishspeaking world.

We have done a virtual reality recreation of the UStart Incubator [at UTT], and a virtual reality recreation of Dr Eric Williams for the national museum. We do regular training with Cariri to grow interest in game development. We have done work with Bravo on a book series in Canada and worked with the University of Prince Edward Island and Parks Canada on VR reconstruction of an important heritage site.

You have to be prepared to work hard, be innovative and adapt to the market.

A major challenge is the acceptance and adaptation of the services we offer. They would easily be adopted by companies in the North American market. But the size of the local market and its ability to invest in the services we offer is minimal.

Nicholas Maxwell and Andy Berahazar were talking to Niran Beharry of Proteus Technologies Limited.

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REGIONAL OPERATIONS GUYANA , FRENCH GUIANA, SURINAME , BRAZIL COLOMBIA , PERU, VENEZUELA .

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tigertankstrinidad.com

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43

STATE OF THE NATION

Energy Update Energy Update A comparison of Q1natural 2017 and 2018 production export Local crude oil and gas production andand usage levels for energy and downstream products

In Figure 1, where Q1 2017 and 2018 are compared, the production levels of the top producers have remained relatively constant, with one notable difference in the ranking of the top three. In both 2017 and 2018, Trinidad and Tobago was actually a net importer of crude oil, as seen in Figure 2.

Fig 2: Imports vs exports of crude oil

Fig. 1: Top local oil producers (average bopd)

(BBLS)

19,400

Q1 2018

Trinmar

Petrotrin

19,238

Q1 2017

Trinmar

Exports

7,197,494

2,402,273

Imports

Exports

Q1 2018

Perenco

11,863

12,854

BPTT

Imports

10,430

12,078

From Q1 2017 to 2018, natural gas 8,461,894production 2,915,477 levels increased

Q1 2017

Petrotrin

●

Fig. 4: Top local natural gas producers, Q1 ● Downstream

Fig. 3: Natural gas utilisation by sector Q1 2018

(average mmscf/d)

(average mmscf/d)

3,507

2018 2,184

●

BPTT 544

2,042

LNG

557

Ammonia

518

Methanol

225

Power

products also had modest increases 2017 in production

1,765 Crude oil production continues on a BPTT downward trend 590

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Refinery

The figures reflect the much-anticipated increase in production from bpTT’s Juniper platform coming online. In Figure 4, note that between Q1 2017 and 2018, bpTT’s natural gas production increased by nearly 24%. Figure 3 shows that LNG continues to be the major use of natural gas locally, accounting for almost 60% of total production.

BG

BG

526

515

EOG

EOG

Source: MEEI Consolidated Report 2017 & 2018

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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Energy Update A comparison of Q1 2017 and 2018 production and export levels for energy and downstream products

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●

From Q1 2017 to 2018, natural gas production levels increased

●

Downstream products also had modest increases in production

●

Crude oil production continues on a downward trend

Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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the state of the nation

Moving from recovery to growth The domestic landscape The local economy appears to be in a state of modest recovery.

In his mid-year review, the Minister of Finance indicated that the economy is now recovering from its protracted period of contraction. This analysis was supported by the Concluding Statement from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) 2018 Article IV Mission. The IMF acknowledged the turnaround in economic growth, and forecast that Real GDP growth would be modestly positive at 1.0 per cent in 2018 and 0.9 per cent in 2019.

The World Bank’s June 2018 Global Economic Prospects Report was more optimistic, estimating 1.6 and 1.9 per cent GDP growth in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

These numbers, while a welcome change from -6.1 per cent in 2016 and -2.6 per cent in 2017, indicate that there is still work to be done to ensure that our economy enjoys long-term stability and growth. This is of particular concern in light of the comparatively sluggish growth of the non-energy sector.

For 2018 and 2019 the IMF’s Article IV Mission Concluding Statement predicted that the energy sector would grow by 6.0 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively. On the other hand, the non-energy sector was predicted to grow by -1.8 per cent in 2018 and 0.0 per cent in 2019.

Gerry Brooks, Chairman of the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago, in his feature presentation at the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber’s Business Outlook 2018/2019, underscored the importance of developing the non-energy sector. He noted the critical need for digitisation of both government services and private sector to increase their levels of productivity.

Global context The IMF’s global economic growth outlook remains positive at a robust 3.9 per cent (World Economic Outlook, April 2018). However, the recent escalating trade tensions present an increasing risk to medium-to-long-term growth prospects globally.

Trade tensions started to escalate in early March, with the United States’ announcement of its intent to levy steel and aluminum tariffs for national security reasons. This primarily affected Canadian, Mexican and EU trading partners, who implemented retaliatory tariffs.

In addition, billions of dollars in tariffs were announced on Chinese products. In response, China unveiled its own list of US exports that would be subject to tariffs. The targets of the proposed Chinese tariffs included popular agricultural goods, such as “soybeans, corn, beef, orange juice and tobacco”.

These potential “trade wars”, involving major economies, could well have far-reaching effects due to uncertainty in future trading relationships and geopolitical stability.

According to a June 2018 World Investment Report from

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

the UN Conference on Trade and Development, foreign direct investment (FDI) around the globe is on the decline. Global FDI flows fell by 23 per cent in 2017, to US$1.43 trillion from US$1.87 trillion a year earlier.

FDI to Latin America and the Caribbean, however, rose 8 per cent to reach $151 billion in 2017. This was the first increase in six years, driven by the economic recovery in the region.

Regional trends According to the IMF’s April 2018 Regional Economic Outlook Report, growth prospects for the Latin America and Caribbean region have been revised upwards since October 2017, to 2 per cent in 2018 and 2.8 per cent in 2019, driven in part by recovery in economies that experienced recession in 2016, and by favourable global demand and world trade.

World Bank estimates were more conservative, at 0.8 per cent in 2017, with a downward revision to 1.7 per cent in 2018, and 2.3 per cent in 2019 (June 2018 Global Economic Prospects Report).

According to the World Bank, for service-exporting economies such as Jamaica, Grenada and St Lucia, strong external demand has resulted in tourism sector growth, as demonstrated by tourist arrivals in the Caribbean reaching an all-time high in 2017 (June 2018 Global Economic Prospects Report).

However, the devastation suffered during the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season drastically slowed growth for some islands. Dominica’s GDP growth is expected to decline by 16.1 per cent in 2018, with recovery predicted in 2019 as reconstruction efforts take hold. (TTCIC)

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO Real GDP growth forecasts

IMF World Bank

Sector growth forecasts

Energy sector, IMF Non energy sector, IMF

2018 2019 1.0 1.6

0.9 1.9

6.0 –1.8

2.4 0.0

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Real GDP growth forecasts IMF World Bank

2.0 1.7

2.8 2.3

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S

ince its formation in 2009, Stratosa Consultancy Services has focused on the personal and professional growth and development of corporate leaders. From assessment and coaching to virtual and in-house training, each solution equips leaders, not only to learn, but to lead with excellence.

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

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the chamber and its members

Welcome, new members!

The Chamber extends a very warm welcome to all those companies and individuals who have become Chamber members in recent months

Action Coach TT

Innovation Factory Ltd.

Richardson & Associates

39 Hubert Rance Street, San Fernando 398-8277 • indiracouch@actioncoach.com

PO Box 3824, Upper Santa Cruz 787-9100 • eddydevisse@gmail.com

Bacolet Street, Scarborough, Tobago 230-4255 • godwyn2wiz@aol.com

Bella Forma

Jarrod Best-Mitchell

Seereeram Brothers Ltd.

Milford Road, Crown Point, Tobago 639-8571 • ericfeniet@hotmail.com

21 Cawnpore Street, St James 355-7640 helpmesell@jarrodbestmitchell.com

LP19, Xeres Road, Carlsen Field, Chaguanas 665-4191 sbl@seereerambros.com

Caribbean Centre for Leadership Development Ltd. (Crestcom) 9 Hilton Trinidad & Conference Centre Lady Young Road, St Ann’s, Port of Spain 221-6933 • renata.tulsie@crestcom.com

Home Mortgage Bank Ground Fl., Princes Court, Keate & Pembroke Streets, Port of Spain • 624-4663 gillian.torries@homemortgagett.com

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Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce

M. Le Blanc Lifestyle Solutions Ltd. 17A West Vale Avenue, West Vale Park, Glencoe 633-4389 leblancconsultantsltd@gmail.com

Mora Carbon Consult Ltd. LP26, Abercromby Street, St Joseph 719-3870 tamara@moracarbon.com

Stratosa Consultancy Services 730-7639 • sallyannbharat@gmail.com

Associate Members Brian Perry Essie Parks-Ewing Hezekiah Caby Dulcie Furlonge Nicole Parks-Penlon Regina King

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