Each new company will have a new board, with directors who will receive stipends, as well as employees on contract.
Investment promotion
In introducing the Trinidad and Tobago Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (TTTIPA) to the T&T population on Monday, Finance Minister, Colm Imbert said: “We are advancing the modernisation of our institutional arrangements for promoting export and investments. To this end, we are in the process of establishing a single trade and investment promotion entity called TTTIPA.
Imbert said to avoid duplication of efforts and to focus on a targeted approach to trade and investment promotion, the new entity is based on a merger of several other agencies: ExporTT, InvesTT, CreativeTT and elements of the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI).
He said the company’s recently appointed board of directors is spearheading the work to operationalise the agency with a mandate to develop a diversified, resilient, and sustainable economy through the international promotion of Trinidad and Tobago.
“To that end, I expect the TTTIPA to be operational in early 2023 and to take steps immediately to enable Trinidad and Tobago to become a premier destination for non-energy business and investment and create a competitive non-energy export sector with high foreign exchange earning capabilities,” said Imbert.
He provided no details on what the budget of the new investment promotion agency would be or how its operations would be more effective than the existing agencies.
TTTIPA will report to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Senator Paula Gopee-Scoon.
Secondary roads
On Monday, Imbert justified the establishment of a new State company—to be called the Secondary Road Rehabilitation and Improvement Company Ltd—by saying: “Our road infrastructure, which had deteriorated during the pandemic when resources were redirected to the health sector, would now undergo a major repair and rehabilitation exercise.”
He said the Secondary Road Rehabilitation and Improvement Company has been capitalised with an initial $100 million and a board of directors appointed.
“A further $100 million has been allocated for this company in 2023, making a total of $200 million immediately available for repair of secondary roads. “We expect it to use these funds proactively to carry out much-needed secondary road repairs throughout the country,” said Imbert. He said additional allocations have also been provided for the 14 Municipal Corporations.
Housing
The Minister of Finance said the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), as presently organised, managed, and financed has built-in inefficiencies and it cannot continue with business as usual.
“It is distracted by having to deal with the many demands for maintenance of rental properties and the difficulties in collecting money owed by occupiers of HDC properties, as well as the urgent need for new housing construction,” Imbert said.
As a result, he said the Government is putting in place a new structure for the HDC which envisages a holding company with 3 subsidiaries:
• the Trinidad and Tobago Housing Development Corporation Construction Company will manage all elements of property development, including land acquisition, urban planning, project and construction management and the provision of financing solutions to undertake construction projects;
• the Trinidad and Tobago Housing Corporation Facilities Management Company will focus on property management, including the maintenance of rental housing units, the maintenance of the management company portfolio and partnering with regional corporations and other external entities to upkeep communities and promote sustainable community development; and
• the Trinidad and Tobago Housing Development Corporation Asset Management Company will complete the sales of the finished housing units and will continue to manage and provide administrative support for housing development under its purview until handed over to purchasers.
“We anticipate that the HDC as reorganized will now have greater financial flexibility, greater efficiency, better focus, and the ability to quickly monetise housing assets which cannot be easily completed in their present form,” said Imbert.
Imbert had signalled the reorganisation of the HDC in the 2022 budget when he said the Government would move to restructure the corporation “to make a clear distinction between its landlord function, as an owner and manager of rental accommodation, and its developmental function, as a builder of affordable houses for sale to the general public.”
On Monday, the minister also said the Government is providing significant financial resources to the HDC in the 2023 fiscal year to refocus on its mandate to construct affordable housing units.
He said the Government is arranging three Government-guaranteed loans totalling $1.5 billion: of which $500 million will fund the completion of stalled or existing housing projects; another $500 million will be used for the payments of debts owed to contractors and suppliers and a further $500 million will be used for the construction of new housing units.
In the 2021 budget, Imbert said to finance HDC’s operations, the Ministry of Finance would facilitate a Government-guaranteed loan of $1 billion.
