FEATURE ADDRESS AT AMCHAM T&T 27th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 

by

Julie J. Chung, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau Of Western Hemisphere Affairs
U.S. Department of State

Introduction 

I want to thank you for the kind invitation to address your annual meeting.  I would have preferred to be with you all in person, but the realities of COVID-19 made that impossible.  I look forward to a time when I can visit. 

I met AMCHAM’s Chief Executive Officer, Nirad Tewarie, back in February at the Atlanta meeting of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the Caribbean.  That was the genesis of this invitation for me to speak with you today. 

I would like to focus on our Growth in the Americas initiative and how it can work for Trinidad and Tobago.  I would also like to lay out our priorities and concerns regarding China and Venezuela. 

Growth in the Americas  

Growth in the Americas is part of the U.S. government’s positive economic agenda for the hemisphere.  It seeks to apply the coordinated expertise of the entire U.S. government to catalyze private sector investment in energy and infrastructure.  

Growth in the Americas started in 2018 with a focus on increasing private investment in energy infrastructure, but now, in its expanded form, it encompasses all types of infrastructure, including airports, ports, roads, and telecom networks, among others.  

The urgent need to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and spur post-COVID economic recovery make the impulse behind Growth in the Americas all the more relevant.  Restoring jobs and growth require creating the enabling conditions to attract private sector investment.  That is after all where the most innovation, growth, and job opportunities come from. 

You don’t need me to tell you the best way to attract private sector investment.  But I would boil it down to three things: transparency, stability, and predictability.   

Transparency means bidding, tendering, contracting and related procurement processes that are open for the public to see.  We support governments regionwide passing and implementing procurement legislation to improve transparency.  

Predictability means standing by the agreements made by your predecessors and having faith that your successors will honor yours.  It also means consulting with business leaders like AMCHAM, before passing legislation and regulations that will impact business.  

Stability doesn’t just mean economic stability, but bureaucratic stability too.  For example, the rules should be the same for everyone to obtain necessary permits, and the process should take the same amount of time for everyone. 

Governments in the region are aware of the public hunger for quality public infrastructure and services procured in a transparent, efficient, and timely way, and are taking steps to meet these demands.  

For example, I would note the efforts by the eastern Caribbean states to work with an American company in Ohio to deploy software tools to buy medical supplies for COVID response in a quick but transparent way that tracks expenditures and provides market leverage and logistical coordination.  That procurement software serves immediate needs but will also help future hurricane response and ordinary government purchases. 

But much more needs to be done to attract skittish investors to Trinidad and Tobago, and to the Caribbean.  How often have we seen issues in the region such as: projects that do not survive a change in administration; opaque tendering processes; arbitrary taxation, and excessive Customs delays. 

Growth in the Americas seeks to respond to these issues by rawing on the expertise of a broad arc of our agencies. 

In Panama, for example, the United States Treasury Department experts helped a public utility modernize its accounting, resulting in a two-notch improvement in its bond rating that will save Panama at least $40 million in debt service costs and attract higher quality investment.  

It is important to point out that the Growth in the Americas initiative encompasses all of Latin America and the Caribbean.  Sharing best practices through technical exchanges is one of our best tools under the initiative for high income countries such as T&T.  Specific topics have included government procurement, water management, and spectrum auctions. 

I think many of you are aware that the new International Development Finance Corporation, or DFC for short, which took over from the old OPIC, cannot provide project financing in high income countries.  That DFC limit comes from Congress.   

But the U.S. Export-Import Bank is available for loan guarantees and other project financing support.  

I would encourage AmCham T&T members to reach out to Matt Ciesielski, the economic officer at our embassy, who also sits on your board of directors, to discuss specific obstacles to investment to start the conversation on what Growth in the Americas-related activities might make the most sense in your country.  

I would also note that Growth in the Americas works alongside a number of other initiatives we have developed to deepen our engagement with your region.  The U.S. Caribbean 2020 strategy, for example, covers a broader arc of issues – security, health, energy, education, prosperity, and diplomacy.  And of course there are longer-standing programs that remain vital such as the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, ten years running now with over $600 million in assistance toward reducing crime and trafficking in the Caribbean.  As I am sure you know, T&T is the biggest beneficiary of the separate Caribbean Basin Initiative’s trade preferences; more than $5 billion of your products have entered the United States duty free since 2013 under this program. 

China’s Influence 

I am not here today to say don’t do business with China. Our largest companies have global supply chains that include China.  I am here to emphasize the partnership between the United States and T&T.  That we are your largest trading partner shows the strength of our relationship. 

As neighbors and partners, we have a strong interest in the well-being and prosperity of Latin America and the Caribbean.  In coordination with democratic partners, we are working to strengthen responsible governance, promote transparency, and ensure respect for human rights.  Unfortunately, Chinese State-Owned Enterprises do not abide by these values that we share. 

I can assure you the United States has a long-cherished tradition of friendship with the Chinese people.  Regrettably, the communist government in China today is not reflective of the people of China.   

Among our concerns are the Chinese government’s approach to lending and development, and its motivations.  A region hungry for infrastructure investment and short on finances finds Chinese concessional loans attractive, but the opacity of Chinese deals threatens to reverse the region’s hard-won gains for transparency, the rule of law, labor rights, and the environment.  

One Trinidad example is the closure of the NAPA (National Academy for the Performing Arts) for more than a year in 2014 due to a litany of construction defects that raised serious health and safety concerns. 

As Trinidad seeks to modernize its physical, digital and energy infrastructure, it is important for both the government and private sector companies to stay alert to the dangers of debt diplomacy and a disrespect for transparency and even national sovereignty.  

The United States remains committed to the promotion of pro-market economies and open societies, and continues to work with our partners to uphold global best practices. We want to see a prosperous China that transacts business with the rest of the world on a fair set of reciprocal terms and allows its people to flourish.   

Venezuela and U.S. Policy  

The Maduro regime, according to the Venezuelan constitution, is illegitimate, period.  This is not an ad hoc U.S. government policy decision.  Venezuela’s 2018 national election was illegitimate and left the presidency vacant.   According to the Venezuelan constitution, the next in line is the president of the National Assembly.  Yet the illegitimate Maduro regime has refused to abide by its own constitution and Nicolas Maduro has refused to peacefully transfer power.  

Instead, the Maduro regime has plundered Venezuela’s wealth for private gain, impoverished its people, caused one of the largest forced displacements in recent history with now over 5 million refugees, and has been a key factor in the instability of the continent and the region. When we look at the growing number of refugees in South America and the Caribbean – including in Trinidad and Tobago– it is the Maduro regime and its continued persecution of its people and gutting of its institutions that are to blame.  

As important as it is to work together to assist these vulnerable people, we must also work together to help them achieve their aspirations to return to a Venezuela that’s democratic, prosperous, and safe.  

Our goal in Venezuela is clear: the return of the National Assembly; a New Council of State that will serve as the executive branch; a new cabinet; and new presidential and national assembly elections under conditions recognized internationally as free and fair, and a gradual lifting of sanctions so that the new government will be allowed to function. Until that time, however, our sanctions remain in place, and I know the Trinbagonian business community is concerned about the reputational risk caused by sanctions.  

The purpose of our sanctions is to identify those entities that are providing material support to the illegitimate Maduro regime.  It is critical that the Trinbagonian business community track and comply with U.S. sanctions to the full extent possible.   

Conclusion 

I wanted to close with a note on COVID-19.  A year ago none of us could have predicted the stress and dislocations of the pandemic.  Now we are turning to focus, in coordination with our partners, on how to restart our economies.   

I have been impressed with how Trinidad has been managing the crisis, balancing public health and economic concerns, and has become a leader in the Caribbean and indeed the world for its phased re-opening of the economy.  

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the U.S. government has committed more than $1 billion in emergency health, humanitarian, economic, and development assistance aimed at helping governments, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations fight the pandemic. This includes nearly $112 million for the Western Hemisphere and over $21 million for the Caribbean. 

In addition to this direct funding from the U.S. Government, our All-of-America approach is helping people around the world through the generosity of American private businesses, non-profit groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, and individuals, who have now provided more than $11 billion in donations and assistance globally, more than any other nation. 

Some things will change in the wake of this crisis.  Countries large and small are taking a close look at their supply chains.  Complex “Just in Time” global supply chains have revealed their fragility, especially when it comes to certain kinds of medical goods.   

The United States government is certainly looking carefully at these issues, and so is the U.S. private sector.  Some companies may ultimately seek to “near shore” or “on shore” more facilities, but it is too soon to say what changes we will see.  Some such supply chain adjustments may be to the benefit of our regional neighbors poised, through efforts to foster business and investment, to seize the initiative.  

It is precisely in such challenging times when we must hold on most tightly to our core shared values of responsible governance, transparency, and respect for democracy and human rights. These are the shared values that will enable us to restore and expand prosperity. 

And we will promote these values in a variety of fora, including discussions such as this one today.   

Seeking out private sector input and policy recommendations is something the United States government takes very seriously.  This is why the United States supported the creation of the Americas Business Dialogue (ABD) following the 2012 Summit of the Americas in Colombia.  The ABD coordinates private sector perspectives across the region to inform regional policy dialogues, including at the the highest-level.  This input along with input from civil society help keep the Summit process focused on practical solutions.  

In 2021, the United States will host the Summit of the Americas, just as T&T did in 2009.  I assure you as host we will work hard to take private sector perspectives into account as we lead the Summit of the Americas process.  

Thank you.  And I now look forward to your questions. 

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

at the

27^th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Delivered by

Patricia Ghany, AMCHAM T&T President
(Wednesday, June 10^th, 2020)

BUSINESS IN THE NEW NORMAL

On behalf of the newly elected Board of Directors for 2020, I would like to welcome you to “Business in the New Normal”.

Let me first thank the members and Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM T&T) - for the confidence and faith placed in re-electing me as your President for another term. 

In preparing for this speech, I revisited some of my previous speeches at AMCHAM T&T events. It’s tempting to say that the coronavirus has propelled us into a world of radical uncertainty where “none of the old rules make sense.” We would all, I’m sure like to take comfort in believing that macroeconomic forecasts at the start of 2020 are now out the window given the impact of a  black swan event that has  altered the trajectory of governments, economies and businesses.

But if we do so, we would be fooling ourselves. The old, fundamental rules do apply and COVID-19 was not a black swan event.

But, hey, don’t take it from me, here is what the Managing Director at McKinsey wrote 12 years ago at the end of the Financial Crisis in 2008, “It is increasingly clear that the current downturn is fundamentally different from recessions of recent decades. We are experiencing not merely another turn of the business cycle, but a restructuring of the economic order. The question is, “What will normal look like?” While no one can say how long the crisis will last, what we find on the other side will not look like the normal of recent years.

Bill Gates, numerous scientists, and even former U.S. President Barack Obama have been talking about the need to prepare for a pandemic for decades.

THE RULE OF LAW

So, what do I mean about fundamental rules? Well, one of AMCHAM T&T’s core principles is the promotion of the rule of law. Fairness and access to justice are key to developing a conducive business environment but so too are they to building a resilient and cohesive society. In the old normal or the new normal, strong adherence to the rule of law is key.

And so too are the development and articulation of a vision for both the society we want to create and role we want our companies to play in it. Our success as a country cannot be measured simply by GDP growth. Neither can our businesses’ success be measured only by profit. From what I have seen in my more than two decades as part of AMCHAM T&T and in my own business, for the most part, the business community has always taken an interest and supported both fence-line communities and the national community. Now, we may need to do a little more and, quite frankly, communicate what we do a little better. This is beyond CSR. It’s about building resilient communities and contributing to the overall sustainability of the country and, hopefully, the region.

In terms of vision, at our Economic Outlook event in January 2020, which now seems like a lifetime ago, I shared with you what we at AMCHAM T&T envisioned as a better future for our country. “We see a country that will be safe for all our young people to live, work and grow.  We see visionary leaders and good governance.  We see a flourishing business community where investors and entrepreneurs work together to create a booming economy that works for all our citizens. We see high levels of social mobility and equality.”

And that last point is where I want to tie it all together. As a country, we need to do a better job of fixing the systems that inhibit social mobility and perpetuate inequality. We cannot fool ourselves by talking about outliers who emerge successfully from structural inequity and try to hold them up as examples that can be easily replicated. As citizens, we should have a vested interest in making our society better. And as businesses, we should see that if the rule of law is assured for those who are often most invisible and on the “margins of society” it will be assured for business too, making the entire economy more efficient and attractive.

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INNOVATION

So, more specifically, during the past three months we have seen a wave of innovation unleashed by companies, government, non-profits, and individuals as we quickly tackled COVID-19 challenges.

For example, Angostura began producing hand sanitizer for our healthcare, CSP is producing fire-resistant face masks, engineers at UWI are developing ventilators. Supermarkets, food delivery services and logistics have come up with ways to ensure a safer experience for their customers and employees. None of these tasks have been easy, but individuals and organizations have demonstrated the motivation and behaviour mind shifts needed to research, innovate, and act quickly.

How do we continue to fuel and foster and reward this innovation going forward? How do we enhance our innovative capacity to take advantage of global supply chain re-alignment? This will require a paradigm shift, promoting an environment that stimulates creativity, creating the right regulatory environment to incentivize investment so that we can expand our markets regionally and internationally.

ACCELERATION OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

It will require an acceleration of our country’s digital transformation. So, let’s imagine, a digitally-enabled Trinidad & Tobago.

Over the past two months, we have seen signs of a shift in how consumers and businesses behave. Some of these changes are direct, short-term responses to the crises and will revert to regular levels once COVID-19 is contained. However, some of these shifts with remote learning, entertainment, and consumption will continue, creating a long-term digital disruption that will generate valuable business opportunities. The COVID-19 situation has ripped the band-aid off the need across the public and private sector to enable teleworking and remote learning across most households. To support this new normal, gaps need to be closed in ICT availability, affordability and adoption for a large cross-section in society, through public and private sector policies and initiatives.

Now, more than ever, there is a need to promote and accelerate the use of alternate, technology-based channels for the delivery of Government services and enabling integrated government, with a view to improving cost efficiencies and service quality. We congratulate the GOTT on accelerating the offerings of e-payments for statutory tax payments such as Corporation tax, Green Fund.

We look forward to the implementation of a unique National Identification Number system which will allow for the provision of government services in a less disjointed manner and instant verification of information provided by the customer. This is something that we have been speaking about for years and was a key recommendation in my AGM speech last year.

We encourage the GOTT Recommit Trinidad and Tobago to the Open Government Partnership and provide more data available in manipulatable format to allow the private sector to extract economic value from our Data with the appropriate privacy protections supported by data privacy and data transparency laws including the full proclamation of the Data Protection Act.

We also need to urgently address the deficiencies in the education system as it relates to

1)     the appropriate use of IT in the teaching-learning process,

2)     the teaching of teach-related skills specifically and,

3)     at a base level, differentiated approaches to teaching to most effectively facilitate learning across the widest group of students.

ENERGY SECTOR

As the energy sector remains the mainstay of our economy, and will continue to be in the short to medium term, it is imperative that we address issues around the energy value chain. I am not being alarmist when I say that continued inaction and reluctance to make decisions is putting the Pt Lisas Industrial Estate in jeopardy. We need to act and act fast on this but at this point, I prefer not to say more.

We also need to transition to renewable energy, leveraging both our natural assets but also the technology and expertise of the multinationals already operating and invested in T&T.

We need to accelerate initiatives around energy efficiency to reduce local wasted consumption.

And of course, the Government and private sector have to work more closely to further develop the export capacity of the energy services sector, in recognition that if our petroleum resources were ever to be depleted, we could still have a vibrant, foreign exchange-earning energy services sector.

CLIMATE CHANGE & RESILIENT ECONOMIES

My final point is that the integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities into business strategy will be more important than ever as we build the “new normal.”

While the impact of COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide disruption and lockdown, what has also emerged is the positive impact on the environment.

It also poses a unique opportunity to build economies that are more resilient and to engage in sustainable business practices. Protecting the environment is not a luxury, nor is it something we can leave for our children to fix. The cost of COVID-19 can be dwarfed if we do not deal decisively with climate change, which affects the most vulnerable in society. If we do not take action to protect sensitive habitats and species; conserve water, forests and other natural resources; and lobby for more stringent environmental protection enforcement, our ecosystems will collapse.

At AMCHAM T&T, we are cognizant of the role we play in society and believe that we need to tackle this problem head-on.

Last October, AMCHAM T&T signed an MOU with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and is the coordinator of the ARISE network in Trinidad and Tobago. AMCHAM T&T has a solid 23-year track record of providing strong direction and leadership on HSSE compliance for the sustainable future of companies, communities, and our nation. Through the work of our ARISE, we have been actively seeking to build resilience amongst the SMEs in Trinidad and Tobago. We are also cognizant that we have just started an active hurricane season so this year we will be working on disaster preparedness, BCP and early warning systems. AMCHAM T&T is also working with PREPARE TT on assessing the probable impact of an earthquake disaster in the country’s capital and would facilitate advocacy and planning around strengthening seismic disaster risk reduction and preparedness measures.

WORK IN PROGRESS

In these challenging times, the way in which individuals and companies, organizations have leapt into action with a clear sense of priority, urgency, and community gives me hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

AMCHAM T&T's vibrant internal culture has allowed us to leverage the current crisis as a catalyst for change in our organization. We remain confident that our ability to be nimble during this time will allow us to continue to be relevant to our members in the years to come.

In closing, I would like to express my gratitude to our C.E.O. Nirad Tewarie for his vision and leadership during these unprecedented times. Thank you to Secretariat, the staff at AMCHAM T&T, who work so tirelessly to building this organisation and maintaining contact and communication with our members.

To my fellow Board members, Officers of the Board and committee members, please know your hard work, passion, commitment and dedication is greatly valued.

And, to our most loyal and faithful sponsors and members thank you for the generous support and unflinching loyalty you have shown to this organisation over the past twenty-eight years.

Thank you for your time and attention and I sincerely look forward to our journey together over the next year as your President.

Stay safe, connected, and healthy,

Thank You.

United Nations World Environment Day 2020

Remarks from AMCHAM T&T President
Patricia Ghany

The United Nations (UN) World Environment Day 2020 is widely celebrated worldwide as a global day for positive environmental action which we at AMCHAM T&T strongly support. Just last year, we celebrated this day hosting a Clean-a-thon which saw over 300 members of AMCHAM T&T cleaning the Queen’s Park Savannah in POS.

This year, business as we know it has been interrupted by the pandemic, but it has also provided us with an opportunity to focus on our environment and to make some decisive actions on climate change. While the impact of COVID-19 has resulted in a worldwide disruption and lockdown, what has also emerged is the positive impact on the environment - the air and water quality of our rivers, lakes and seas have improved, even our wildlife has started to flourish. But these small improvements in our environment have come at very heavy costs to people and economies. We are experiencing the worst recession since World War II and there is no doubt that the effects of this will continue to be felt for years to come.

While COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on our lives and economies, it also poses a unique opportunity to build economies that are more resilient and to engage in sustainable business practices. Protecting the environment is not a luxury, nor is it something we can leave for our children to fix. The cost of COVID-19 can be dwarfed if we do not deal decisively with climate change, which affects the most vulnerable in society. If we do not take action to protect sensitive habitats and species; conserve water, forests and other natural resources; and lobby for more stringent environmental protection enforcement, our ecosystems will collapse. When we alter or destroy aspects of the ecosystems, there are negative consequences, for example – species extinction; water shortages; sea-level rise; zoonotic diseases and natural disasters, including loss of lives.

The time has never been more immediate for us to promote investment in green businesses and green technologies. We must tackle plastic pollution decisively. At AMCHAM T&T, we are cognizant of the role we play in society and believe that we need to tackle this problem head-on. AMCHAM T&T, through its environment sub-committee, has created an environmental charter which organisations have signed onto to demonstrate to other business players their commitment to environmental conservation. It also enhances the competitiveness of businesses, both locally and internationally, by letting potential clients know that they conduct their business in a sustainable and regulatory compliant manner. AMCHAM T&T also hosts the premier annual HSE Awards which is attended by a wide cross-section of business and industry leaders. This is a platform for us to recognize organizations who uphold and achieve the highest levels of sustainable operations focused on environmental conservation

Last October, AMCHAM T&T signed an MOU with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and is the coordinator of the ARISE network in Trinidad and Tobago. AMCHAM T&T has a solid 23-year track record of providing strong direction and leadership on HSSE compliance for the sustainable future of companies, communities, and our nation. Through the work of our ARISE, we have been actively seeking to build resilience amongst the SMEs in Trinidad and Tobago. We are also cognizant that we have just started an active hurricane season so this year we will be working on disaster preparedness, BCP and early warning systems. AMCHAM T&T is also working with PREPARE TT on assessing the probable impact of an earthquake disaster in the country’s capital and would facilitate advocacy and planning around strengthening seismic disaster risk reduction and preparedness measures.

In closing, we urge everyone to not only reflect on the United Nations World Environment Day 2020 Theme - “Time for Nature” but take action to show respect and appreciation for biodiversity. Join the challenge for the month of June and do any or ALL of the following:

• Start your kitchen garden (if you haven’t already) and post the photos on social media with the hashtag: #timefornature
• Plant fruit or beneficial trees around your home or workplace and post the photos on social media with the hashtag: #timefornature (a mature tree can absorb 22kg of CO2 from the atmosphere).
• Start a compost heap with vegetable peelings, grass cuttings
• Engage in an activity that will reduce your carbon footprint, for example: don’t drive (work from home if possible), turn off all power for 1 hour, refuse single-use plastic and make that change onwards. Deadline for submissions – 26th June 2020 and these will be posted to all AMCHAM T&T’s social media platforms for recognition.

Remember, the time for nature begins today. Happy World Environment Day, everyone.

AMCHAM T&T, through surveying its members, was able to compile a submission for the Road Map to Recovery Committee, put together by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. This committee was founded to develop a plan for the recovery of the economy after the COVID-19 crisis.

This submission is a point of advocacy for our members and the business community. The information provided by members in the survey was critical to informing this Submission and representing your views and needs to the government and the wider national community as we all work towards accelerating T&T’s recovery from this crisis.

To view the Road Map to Recovery Recommendations, please click here. 

AMCHAM T&T Response to PM’s Update on COVID-19 Restrictions

MEDIA STATEMENT
16/05/2020

The announcements today appear to follow the same principles enunciated by the Government since the initiation of the 'lockdown' period. We are glad to see health remaining the priority while additional businesses can be re-opened. We appreciate the acceptance of the principles that registered businesses in the form of registered taxis should be recognised for being compliant and the tangible acknowledgement that the state can find ways to directly assist businesses to weather the crisis.

We encourage all businesses and individuals to follow protocols to stop the spread of the virus. We look forward to more testing in the short term in the hope that there are no further cases of the virus locally so that we can start rebuilding the society and economy.

We are optimistic that businesses that can open will continue to implement the necessary safety controls to conduct business to prevent the spread of the virus. We have already seen many companies who were deemed essential during the lockdown period adopt these new measures and so we encourage businesses to continue these trends, particularly with hygiene protocols both for returning staff and customers, social distancing, and employee travel arrangements.

The slightly earlier re-opening of additional businesses will begin the slow process of kickstarting our economy by securing jobs for employees, continuing trade, and earning much needed foreign exchange. This will also assist the government to continue to provide the much-needed relief measures to assist citizens who are impacted by the ongoing effects of COVID-19.

For further questions or comments please contact: Nirad Tewarie, CEO AMCHAM T&T at niradtewarie@amchamtt.com.

END

OPENING REMARKS BY

MELISSA PIERRE
(Senior Trade & Policy Specialist- AMCHAM T&T)

at the

AMCHAM T&T WEBINAR:
“NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC: CYBERSECURITY”

(Tuesday, May 12^th, 2020)

Good Morning everyone and thank you for your participation today. I am Melissa Pierre, Senior Trade and Policy Specialist at AMCHAM T&T, and it is indeed a pleasure to welcome you to this webinar.

Today’s Webinar deals with the all-important topic of Cyber Security – an issue I am sure you will be hearing a lot more as companies begin the process of adjusting to this new normal.

As some of you know we have done quite a few of these webinars since our first in March, but today’s webinar speaks to the core of what we have been doing at AMCHAM T&T for a number of years, through our two flagship conferences i.e. HSSE Conference and Exhibition and our Tech Hubs Islands Summit (t.h.i.s.) Last year at t.h.i.s. we focused on embracing the 4th Industrial Revolution, and this year we will be looking for innovative ways to continue the engagement, dialogue, and information sharing. Therefore, this webinar is part of our Digital Transformation Series which is a series of Webinars we will be having over the next couple of weeks to continue the dialogue, we started one year ago.

Before COVID-19, we all knew telecommuting was an option however very few persons or companies were willing to make it the preferred method for conducting meetings, far less hosting seminars and possibly even conferences. Then we had the pandemic and many of our employees are working remotely simply to keep them safe.

Webinars have now become the usual occurrence. Just think about how many webinars you have participated in this week... this month. Today companies are now asking themselves- if we were to return to work, do we really need everyone to physically be in the office? Do we even need an office space?

We already know that opportunistic criminals and other malicious actors have been using the internet and other rapidly evolving technology such as apps and mobile smart devices to compromise an individual or company’s financial and digital assets. Meanwhile, hacktivists have been flooding websites with traffic, effectively shutting them down, and spies have stolen intellectual property and government secrets. Amidst a pandemic where social distancing, economic disruption and remote working has now become the norm – this has created the perfect setting for these criminals to induce further shocks and disruptions to both our economic and health systems.

It was just a matter of time for hackers to take advantage of a remote workforce, or an unsuspecting customer plugging in company credit card details or other important company information on an unsecured network. That is why we at AMCHAM T&T believe it is important that companies start investing more around cybersecurity tools and policies to protect their digital assets and their workforce.

It is also important that individuals take responsibility for their actions. Companies, should have policies to educate their workforces on cyber threats, and practice retraining if phishing schemes allows data to be leaked, but we also expect employees to take note of suspicious websites, emails and apps which may pose risks for downloading. That means each of us needs to be vigilant.

However, not all news is bad news in this pandemic. There are many lessons to be learned here. For starters, it is good that we are all once more talking about cybersecurity. We should not have to wait for another once-in-a-lifetime pandemic to get us to invest more and start developing policies to protect our assets and will ensure business continuity in times of disasters.

Also, consideration must be given to remote working not just as a disruption caused by a disaster but as the widely accepted norm of the future. The truth is: natural or man-made disasters will always be there. Are we going to simply “close shop” and wait for things to get back to normal? Or are we going to realise that even in a disaster, work and life, can continue once we have the necessary resources and policies implemented to make it happen?

This is just a couple of the reasons why we are bringing you this session today. The road to recovery is going to be a long one from COVID-19 but we must ensure that we find a safe and responsible way to continue to work and operate our businesses. Remember in a pandemic, safety and protection aren’t just about wearing a face mask and adhering to social distancing rules. That’s important but we also have to protect and secure our digital assets so that there are minimal disruptions to our life and work even in a disaster.

In closing, I would like to thank our sponsors Republic Bank, PwC, Digicel and our partners at Trinidad Systems Limited (TSL) for their support to host this Webinar. I want to reiterate, AMCHAM is here to support you. We are open to initiatives and ideas from you, so just simply reach out to us. If you have suggestions for webinars, topics or speakers let us know.

Thank you.

OPENING REMARKS BY AMCHAM T&T CEO

NIRAD TEWARIE

at the

AMCHAM T&T WEBINAR:
“NAVIGATING THE PANDEMIC: THE USEFULNESS OF RISK MANAGEMENT”

(Friday, May 8^th 2020)

Good Morning everyone and thank you for your participation today. Welcome to one of the AMCHAM T&T webinars. I am Nirad Tewarie, CEO of AMCHAM T&T and it is indeed a pleasure to welcome you to this webinar. I would like to say a special thanks to Melissa Pierre, who have been working with the HSE Committee to make this Webinar happen.

We have done quite a few of these webinars since our first on March 16^th. It is one of the ways we at AMCHAM T&T aims to provide value to our members. These webinars continue our advocacy positions as well as provide information to assist you in making decisions, in what are truly unprecedented times.

Today’s session is different from the other sessions that we have had in the past. We have chosen the topic “The Usefulness of Risk Management” to provide vital information and additional resources that will help each of us to navigate our lives and businesses through this pandemic. Normally, this would have been a topic featured prominently at our annual HSSE Conference and Exhibition, but some would say, these aren’t normal times. So we are happy to have the expert speakers deliver presentations on this topic today.

We understand that many companies are struggling to cope in these times due to the major disruptions caused by the response measures to stop the spread of the virus in the absence of a vaccine.

We wonder, how many times in the past couple of weeks we have asked the question: what more could we have done to limit some of the effects on our businesses? Or could we have prepared for this?

And while this is not the time to play the blame game or the ‘what-if’ scenarios. Even Nassim Taleb – author of the Black Swan – is on record as saying that COVID-19 is not a Black Swan event as it was entirely predictable, yet many of us were almost totally unprepared to respond to it. So, we knew it was coming. We just didn’t know when and how.

So the reality is that this virus is going to be with us for some time, at least in the immediate future, but we also have to find a safe and responsible way to ensure that we can conduct and operate business during these challenging times. And, we also have to allow this pandemic to act as a teachable moment that shows us where we fell short in preparing for it and how we can do better – not just as businesses but also as societies. How can we do better as societies and how can business contribute to that better society that will emerge hopefully out of this pandemic.

So, we must come together and start developing practical solutions – if we haven't done so before – that will start looking more closely into our crisis management plans and business continuity plans and interactions with employees and customers as we move to what everyone is calling the new normal.

We know that there are many associated risks to business which are impacted by COVID-19, for example: Reputation risks, Supply Chain risks, Health & Safety, Cyber and Fraud risks, to name a few, so it’s important that companies continue to invest more towards improving their risk landscape that is changing every day because of this pandemic. We may have to perform more new risk assessments and continually adjust of control measures to contain those new or heightened risks which are often interconnected. It may simply mean performing a better job of trying to anticipate what we can’t anticipate.

If the impact of COVID-19 on business has taught us one thing is that we cannot wait for our annual ERM (Enterprise Risk Management) updates or audit plans before we act. We have to ensure that these risks are on management's radar now to allow your teams to take these into consideration when making decisions and for management to be cognizant of the importance of proper risk assessment and planning. The agility of our compliance programs will help us to quickly identify and respond to new risks which will ultimately determine our survival as well as the survival of the organization.

But we continue to not panic. What has been truly amazing in these times, in spite of the many disruptions to our lives, is how fast people around the world have quickly made adjustments to their lives and to work. Of course, a lot of that is attributable to the advances made, and our access to technology. But it is still our ability to adapt, even in the most challenging times, that has helped us to survive and thrive.

In this situation, as it relates to business, we just have to start identifying and accessing those risks and ensuring that there are sufficient control measures put in place that will elicit the least amount of disruptions to our lives and livelihood.

As I close, I just want to add that even whilst we recognise the limitations posed on us by COVID-19, AMCHAM T&T has never been an organization to sit back and relax and wait for things to return to normal. As a matter of fact, no one can tell us with any certainty when that would be, so we cannot wait. Just to be clear, we operate within the law at all times, however, we embraced the need to change and recognised we need to innovate and continue to deliver a higher standard of value to you. We are ably assisted in this by the BOD and our committees- so special thank you to the BOD and the committees, especially HSE committee logged on today- this session would not be possible without your support and expertise. 

I hope you would appreciate that the session today is small to allow for maximum participation and networking. Our feature speaker, Mr. Nippin Anand has assured us that he will stay online as long as you have questions to be able to respond to them. So whilst you won't be able to sit with him at lunch at Hyatt (like you would have had at the Conference), you are able to more easily interact with him in this Forum. We also want to thank Col. Lyle E. Alexander for taking the time out to be with us today and we look forward to his presentation. 

AMCHAM has continued to reach out to you to find out if we can assist in any way possible, and we have been pushing the private sector agenda forward on your behalf. We are thankful for the robust suggestions you have given us in our surveys.

In closing, I want to reiterate, AMCHAM is here to support you. We are open to initiatives and ideas from you, so just simply reach out to us. If you have suggestions for webinars- topics or speakers let us know. 

Thank you.

AMCHAM T&T Response to Phased Re-Opening of Business

MEDIA STATEMENT
10/05/2020

AMCHAM T&T once again would like to place on record our congratulations to the Government for its containment of COVID-19 in T&T. The decisive measures, based on available data and science, that were taken to this point have undoubtedly saved countless lives and made the requirements of ‘total lockdown’ much shorter than if there had been significantly greater spread of the disease locally.

We appreciate the caution being exercised at this point in the phased reopening. While we do not advocate for greater easing than has been announced at this point, the reality is that all businesses are hurting badly – most with zero sales in April and now zero for most of May. The Government’s interaction with businesses around support – both non-financial and financial - has been inadequate.

There are some other businesses that should be considered for exemptions to allow them to operate and we urge the Government to put in place a clear and transparent process for them to apply to do so.

What is a little more concerning is that fewer than 2,000 people have been tested so far. This means that an accurate assessment of risk is not entirely possible.

More broadly, the reason the Government did so well in managing the health side of the pandemic, is because they acted decisively, took responsibility, made decisions, and turned those into action. For the country to recover from the dangerous economic winds swirling around us, they must now take responsibility, act quickly and decisively and collaboratively with stakeholders to make the economic environment more conducive to doing business and attracting investment.

For further questions or comments please contact: Nirad Tewarie, CEO AMCHAM T&T at niradtewarie@amchamtt.com.

END

Speech by AMCHAM T&T PRESIDENT

Ms. Patricia Ghany

at the

Girls In ICT Day Conference 2020

(Thursday, 23rd April 2020)

Good morning everyone and thank you for having me here.

Before I begin, I want to congratulate the Restore a Sense of I Can (RSC) team headed by Mr. Raj Ramdass for making the decision to proceed with this event, especially in these uncertain times.

With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the entire world, today, I feel we are finally one community that is no longer separated by borders and oceans.

This pandemic has shown us that we must look out for each other even if that means we have to socially distance or self-quarantined ourselves from each other.

I want to thank everyone who is logged on today for doing their path and for realizing that an important event such as this must go on. It is in these times we must seek alternative avenues to ensure business continuity which is why AMCHAM T&T is proud to be a partner of this event.

As President of the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago, I want you to know that the International Girls in ICT Day is an initiative that I am personally very passionate about.

It gives me great pleasure to represent an organization that have made both gender parity and advancing our nation’s tech sector as two equally important issues that we have been proudly championing over the last few years.

For us at AMCHAM T&T, we see these two issues as intersectional in our measures of support and advocacy. By this, I mean, if we are to develop our nation’s tech sector, we cannot do this without addressing the gaps that keep girls and women at a disadvantaged state.

As one of the fastest growing sectors in the world ICT has many benefits, namely creating a wide range of exciting jobs with unique skills and technical know-how for everyone.

For women in technical fields and girls who are aspiring to have ICT jobs, this increases their opportunities for employment in fields such as software development, teaching at ICT, computer engineering, space development, electronic and electrical engineering.

However, the data keeps telling us that there is a disproportionately low number of female students who are given access to pursue higher education in technical fields such as math, engineering, computing and sciences, for a number of reasons.

There is also a body of evidence to show that the tech sector is currently, male-dominated, especially at the senior levels. Think, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zukerberg, Jack Dorsey, and the list goes on. I am sure those names sound familiar to you, but does anyone notice a trend here? Won’t it be more apt to replace these names with super women, female pioneers in ICT such as Ada Lovelace, Marissa Mayer, Grace Harper and Sheryl Sanderg.

This is what I meant when I said we must address the existing gaps, and why advancing the tech sector is married to advancing the opportunities for girls and women everywhere. We simply cannot achieve one and ignore the other.

This is also why the International Girls in ICT Day, and this event is so important to us at AMCHAM T&T. This day allows us to highlight these issues and expose the next generation of female leaders to increase opportunities. We hope this empowers them to enter ICT knowing that there is a bright future ahead for them in this field.

When we increase the educational opportunities in ICT for girls and women, and develop a more gender-balanced tech sector, we are lifting women out of poverty by offering them opportunities for jobs and access to move up the career ladder quicker in their respective fields.

We are also helping girls and women to create their own space and agency. ICT helps women to gain better status within their society and to excel professionally, according to their own choice.

So, as we all sit behind our computers and mobile devices, I want you to soak up the information shared with you today. I believe there are sessions that will expose you to other young girls and women who are making waves in the tech world. You will learn how to deliver presentations and develop your critical and design thinking skills. You will also be taught about entrepreneurship and leadership.

This information will open many doors for you in the future. What you learn here today may inspire you to create your school’s first robotics club, or lead you to develop the next great app that everyone is talking about, or perhaps become the CEO of your own tech company that is changing the world. This is the power of ICT and this is why we need to ensure girls and women have equal access to it.

Thank you. 

22nd March, 2020

Hon Paula Gopee-Scoon
Minister of Trade and Industry
via electronic-mail

Dear Hon. Minister,

AMCHAM T&T compliments the GORTT for the whole of Government's approach to attempting to “flatten the curve” by promoting and enforcing social distancing through a range of measures. As difficult as these may be, we agree that the best available science shows that this is the only effective way to halt the spread of the virus.

The Economic fallout of this is already severe. However, this will be much worse if the virus spreads exponentially in the population, as we see in other economies.

The world and the global economy have changed forever. We must therefore adapt.

The main objective of the Government now has to be to build and maintain confidence.

As such, following decisive action around social distancing, in the short-term what is required is a targeted but robust economic programme designed to mitigate the short-term economic fallout. As such, we have listed some recommendations hereunder.

While this is not a time for long diatribes, we are compelled to point out that short-term measures will at best, only be effective in providing the room to stabilize the economy.

We acknowledge that these are short-term suggestions that will put a strain on the treasury. Consequently, we are cognizant of the fact that revenue generating measures need to be developed in phase two. We accept that all will have to share in the burden of recovery, including the business community.

Recovery is going to depend on close and constant collaboration among Government, civil society, labour and business. The most effective way to ease the ‘pain’ quickly is to have collective buy-in. Let’s do this together.

Recovery, will also require the Government to use this opportunity to significantly improve the ease of doing business, primarily through the adoption of digital technology in the government services. We will also need to radically re-engineer the education system in time for the 2020-2021 academic year.

We appreciate that the next week is critical in the stabilization phase. Once there is some confidence that measures around this have been put into place, the country needs to start looking at recovery and how we may best position ourselves to respond, mitigate and even benefit from the changes in global value and supply chains. Therefore, we suggest the establishment of a private sector team to work with the designated members of the Cabinet to develop on these initiatives.

Specific recommendations:

1. Waiver of Green Fund and Business Levy through September 2020.

2. Corporation tax payment deferral to end Q3 to allow for taxes to be paid on actual amounts due as opposed to last year’s sales figures. This will help businesses substantially manage their cash flow.

3. Adaptation of already-announced unemployment payments to become wage support – 75% Government / 25% business for workers from week three once businesses are willing to keep people employed with no more than a maximum of 20% wage reduction. With this, businesses may seek to utilise this time for training or experiment on new products or services.

4. NIS benefits to kick in after week two for sick leave.

5. Defer VAT Payments through June 2020.

6. Grants for businesses employing fewer than 20 people.

7. Pay outstanding VAT refunds in full (minus interest owed).

8. Pay outstanding trade bills.

9. Any person or business applying for benefits must have a BIR number. Where individuals seek to benefit from wage support, they should be asked to identify their employer and that employer should either have or be made to register for a BIR number (but the latter should not prevent the individual from accessing the benefit). Government should consider waiving penalties on taxes and use this opportunity to have more people and businesses come into the tax net moving forward.

10. Increase taxes on “luxury” imported items in an attempt to conserve foreign exchange. However, these should not be across the board taxes on imported items as broad taxes will likely affect everyone negatively and result in price increases for ‘every-day’ items therefore higher inflation.

11. Grants for teachers to pay Internet service charges once they show evidence of teaching classes online (not extra lessons).

12. Grants for anyone with access to land to either boost production or begin cultivation of crops that will be ready to harvest within 12 months. Priority should be given to registered farmers in the first instance.

13. Co-financing of labour in the agricultural sector to compliment grants identified earlier and provide some opportunity for people who may have lost their jobs.

14. Waiver on stamp duty for loans through December 2020.

15. Waiver on penalties and interest on stamp duty currently owed but not yet paid through July 2020.

16. Waiver of penalties and interests for current tax payments for:

(A) final corporation tax for income year 2019 due on April 30, 2020, until June, 2020
(B) quarterly corporation tax, Business levy and Green Fund liabilities due on March 31st, 2020, until June, 2020
(C) PAYE, Health Surcharge and National Insurance due on the 15th of April and each succeeding month until June, 2020.
(D) Value Added Tax due on the 25th April and each succeeding month until June, 2020.