Annual General Meeting
Press Release
Chairman's Statement
President's Statement
TTCSI Elects Its First Board of Directors
The year 2007 has been an inspiringly positive year for the Trinidad & Tobago Coalition of Service Industries, a national umbrella body that brings together service sector organizations and associations. Its numerous and impressive accomplishments clearly demonstrated its desire to establish itself as the voice of Trinidad and Tobago's Service Industries.
In furtherance of its mandate, the TTCSI recently held its first Annual General Meeting at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, to appoint a new Board of Directors and review the successes of its first full year of operations.
The TTCSI's first Annual General Meeting was the fulfillment of several years of organizing and operationalizing the Coalition and signifies the development of the TTCSI over the past year. The TTCSI's membership of twenty associations now represents over 50% of the service industries locally and, of these, 95% were present at this landmark event.
The interim TTCSI Board of Directors which was elected to govern the affairs of the Coalition until the first Annual General Meeting, championed several of TTCSI's groundbreaking achievements such as the recruitment of Members representing over fifty percent (50%) of the GDP contributed by services; the representation of the services sector at Trade Negotiations for the first time alongside other sectors of the economy and the requests by Trade officials from Africa, the Middle East and the wider Caribbean to share our Coalition model and implementation strategies with them. They have now enjoyed the honour of passing the mantle to a new elected board which was voted in by Members of the Coalition, at the AGM.
The newly elected Board of Directors is as follows:
President – Mr. Lawrence Placide
Trinidad & Tobago Chamber of Industry & Commerce
Vice President – Dr. Thackwray Driver
South Chamber of Industry and Commerce
Treasurer – Mrs. Sandra Parmesar
Shipping Association of Trinidad & Tobago
Secretary – Mr. Rabindra Jaggernauth
Information Technology Society of Trinidad & Tobago
Board Members:
Mr. Gary Turton
Trinidad & Tobago Institute of Architects
Mrs. Desiree Arthur
Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry
Mr. Mahindra Satram-Maharaj
National Carnival Development Foundation
In his outgoing address, Interim Chairman Dav-Ernan Kowlessar remarked, “The Coalition has established a solid platform in its first twelve months for future growth and development... What lies ahead will be challenging yet opportune times for Trinidad & Tobago, and in particular the ability of the services sector to increase the trade value of its tremendous productive capacity. I have no doubt that the incoming Board will continue to steer the ship in a direction beneficial to the Membership, even as it beats it own trail.”
President Placide congratulated the Interim Board for their many accomplishments and thanked the outgoing Chairman for his energy, vision and determination.
As the TTCSI moves forward, we can expect to see its continued involvement in national, regional and global events, as well as an increase in its lobbying efforts and public outreach, while contributing substantively to national trade policy formulation and implementation, as it strives to become the leading services umbrella body in the Caribbean.
To learn more, call or visit the TTCSI today:
The Trinidad & Tobago Coalition of Services Industries
211A Belmont Circular Road, Port of Spain
Tel.: 868 621 1441 Fax: 868 621 0386
Email: info@ttcsi.org Web: www.ttcsi.org