Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries

Annual General Meeting

SECRETARIAT REPORT

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI) was launched by the Prime Minister in August 2006 and registered as a company in early 2007. An Interim Board was established in the first quarter of 2007 and a CEO appointed effective 1st April of the same year, with a mandate to operationalize the Coalition. Today, TTCSI operates a fully equipped and staffed Secretariat with an ongoing dialogue with its growing Membership, from all areas of the Services Sector.

As one would imagine, the Coalition was in an establishment mode during its first twelve months of operation. This however did not distract from fully addressing its mandate and upon review of the TTCSI’s operations during this period, we see many significant accomplishments. There have also been temporary deferrals of two previously stated objectives. These have not weakened the solid foundation which the organization continues to develop in all areas of its operations.

2.0 GOVERNANCE

In the absence of a Membership base, an Interim Board was appointed in February 2007 to steer the ship until its first Annual General Meeting. The interim Board elected Dav-Ernan Kowlessar as its Chairman, with Sandra Parmesar as Deputy Chairman and Lawrence Placide as Secretary. These appointments gave to TTCSI, at the Board level, over twenty years experience in Services Sector management and practice, and more than ten years in Trade negotiations.

During the period of its existence, the Interim Board held twelve Statutory Meetings as well as three Special Meetings. The Ministry of Trade & Industry, whose representatives are present at Board Meetings, has appointed a Senior Business Analyst at the Ministry to monitor the operations of the Secretariat. This official has been provided with all the relevant Board Minutes and Financial Statements required, up to March 2008.

3.0 SECRETARIAT

The Chief Executive Officer initially operated from the Ministry’s offices at Riverside Plaza. After five weeks however, a suitable building was located in the Belmont area of Port of Spain, which became the location of the Secretariat from May 7th, 2007. The Secretariat now operates from 211A Belmont Circular Road with a rental lease that expires in May 2010.

The requisite furniture, office fittings and equipment reflective of the desired image of the organization were procured and installed by July 2007. Temporary staff was hired to kick start the operations of the Secretariat.

The search for a permanent workforce was launched with a double page full colour press advertisement in August, for five positions. This exercise yielded candidates for four of the five positions sought. This exercise also signaled to the wider community the impending start – up of the TTCSI.

In the end, the Board decided, for reason of costs, on only filling three positions in a restructured organization, with the functions of two being undertaken by third party contractors, on an a “as is required” basis. Two of these identified persons joined the organization while the third declined at the last minute. A suitable replacement was recruited during the 1st quarter of 2008, bringing the level of staffing at the Secretariat to its revised established complement.

The start of its second year of operations finds the Secretariat with all its resources and equipment that were ordered in place, putting the organization in a ready mode to take on the challenges necessary to achieve its mandate.

4.0 FINANCE

During the period April 2007 – March 2008, capital expenditure, which essentially involved equipping and furnishing the Secretariat amounted to $313,300 or fourteen percent of the cash inflows for the organization, which totaled $2,241,900. The Administration of the Secretariat accounted for forty-eight percent of the inflows ($1,080,838), travel – 9% and public awareness campaigns – 17%.

The total cash inflow of $2,241,900 was dominated by Government subventions of $2,222,700 or 99%, with Membership dues and small IFI Grants totaling $19,200, for the remaining one percent. With total expenditure for the period under review amounting to $2,006,427, the surplus at year end of March 2008 was $235,473. The Coalition ended the year virtually debt free and not owing any money of significance.

5.0 MEMBERSHIP

After twelve months of operations, twenty Associations as listed in the attached Appendix had joined TTCSI, from a known universe of fifty five. These twenty members however, are responsible for over fifty-five percent of the services private sector and account for virtually all of the organizations in the construction, marine, finance, distribution and energy services sectors of the economy.

The TTCSI engaged its Membership in dialogue and consultations continually over the last twelve months on matters related to Trade Fair opportunities, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, Competition Policy, Domestic Regulation and the Green Paper on Investments. We are happy to report that our Membership positions, arrived at after consultations with them, found their way into the final text of the recently concluded EPA Negotiations with the European Union.

The Secretariat is also currently engaged in the development of Industry specific Associations in Education, Health, Security and the Cultural Entertainment Industries.

6.0 AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

The joining Members were used in an awareness press campaign during 2007. These were also press releases on various trading issues. During the year, over three thousand corporate brochures were produced and distributed at several trade related events. A website, www.ttcsi.org was developed and after six months, there were over two thousand visitors to the site.

The awareness campaign was not limited to the local market. In an effort to get ourselves known by the international community, TTCSI personnel participated in and made presentations at prestigious Conferences and Meetings in Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Martinique, Curacao, Barbados and El Salvador.

The fruits of these presentations were immediately obvious, as requests have already come from Africa, the Middle East and the wider Caribbean for the sharing with them, of our Coalition model and implementation strategies.

In March 2008, TTCSI produced the first issue of its newsletter – ‘THE TTCSI QUARTERLY”. This publication is intended to become a key linkage with the many institutions and individuals, of interest to us, whom we have come across during the start up phase of the organization. These include multilateral Trade Support Agencies, Trinidad and Tobago representatives posted overseas, foreign representatives based in Trinidad, as well as organizations similar to TTCSI operating in all areas of the globe.

7.0 OPERATIONS

7.1 Trade Policy
During the first twelve months of operations of the TTCSI, there was not an established staff member dedicated to this task. However, activities in this area were quite hectic notwithstanding this situation, with members of the Working Board carrying a large part of the burden. TTCSI had a representative at the EPA Negotiations and at all the preparatory Meetings leading up to the different phases of the Negotiations.

Besides actual participation in the Negotiations, TTCSI facilitated direct contacts between key players in some services sub sectors and the Negotiators, prior to the close of the EPA Negotiations. These included the telecommunications and cultural services industries.

The Coalition was also represented at the initial CARICOM / Central America Negotiations. TTCSI officials are Members of the Ministry’s Services Sub Committee, as well as on various trade related committees in Trinidad and Tobago and CARICOM.

Through the efforts of the Trade Consultant and the Board, work had begun on the shaping of recommendations and input to the Services Trade Policy for Trinidad and Tobago. This development has now been established as a major priority for the incumbent officer responsible for Trade Policy.

The TTCSI has also contributed to the issuance of two press releases along with its Global Coalition of Services (GSC) partners to lobby for the trade negotiations at the WTO. A mission of the GSC is expected to convene and meet with the Director General in the middle of April 2008.

Several other positions on behalf of the Services sector have been articulated to the relevant bodies. This has included collaboration with UWI Centre for International Trade and Services who have recently concluded work on the study of trade in services in the region.

7.2 Trade Facilitation and Promotion
The major functions in this area undertaken during the period under review centered on the search for market opportunities, as well as the promotion of the Membership’s interest and that of the overall Services Sector.

The Coalition has also had the opportunity to meet with all of the Trinidad and Tobago Ambassadors appointed during its operation, prior to their departure, with the common view that they will be a continuous link to our external markets. The intention is to equip these foreign embassies and Consulates with a portfolio of the Services Trade offerings of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Secretariat has also established strong linkages with the Cuba Trading Company which is also in its first year of operation. In furtherance of this external promotional drive, the TTCSI participated in six Trade Fairs and missions during 2007- 2008, which were held in emerging markets like Columbia, Cuba and Costa Rica. It would also be noteworthy that the opportunities referred earlier where any opportunity for representation was had, at trade meetings or to make a presentation, the sector was well promoted.

The full list of external opportunities include:

Columbia – 3rd World Services Congress, which was a gathering of services trade experts from around the World and at which the TTCSI established its footing with the Global Services Coalition.
Costa Rica and El Salvador - TT Services Trade Mission to Central America which was recently concluded in March 2008 and revealed a tremendous opportunity for services trade growth to take place, especially in the finance and construction sub-sectors, given the heavy infrastructural development mode existing in the region.
Curacao - BCSI Trade Mission to Curacao which revealed new market opportunities not only in light of the EPA but also as the economy moves toward a new form of autonomy. A database of contacts for doing business in Curacao and by extension to Europe now resides with the TTCSI
Martinique – BCSI Trade Mission to Martinique, again an opportune time with the signing of the EPA and the renewed interest by the French in the English speaking Caribbean. It is noteworthy that the Chamber intends to establish a trade office in Trinidad.
Cuba – Havana Trade Fair and Business Forum provided the opportunity to establish linkages with the key players in the economic landscape of a long standing but under-developed neighbouring market
Unites States Of America – Caribbean and Central America Action (CCAA), which provided the opportunity to display the capability of the TT Services Sector to the US, Central American and stakeholders in the regional markets. It was the first opportunity to formally set up a booth at such a prestigious event.

In addition, the TTCSI has and will continue to give support to members’ missions to external markets, and in particular we note the Services trade mission to the Dominican Republic by the TT Chamber and the mission to Guyana and Suriname by the South Trinidad Chamber in 2007.

The TTCSI is expected to present its services sector to the visiting buyers and delegates to the Trade and Investment Convention in May 2008 through its participation as an exhibitor. Member organizations would be able to contribute through the TTCSI to this exposition.

7.3 Networking and Collaboration

As a new organization needing to spread its wings and source operational and project funding, TTCSI in 2007 entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries. This provided the opportunity to leverage on the resources of each organization and saw the establishment of a Caribbean Coalition website, the exchange of information on the Certificate of Service Provider, participation in two trade missions, and of note was that the Chairman was the feature speaker at its AGM in August 2007.

The TTCSI is currently a member of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) and the Global Services Network. It is a recognized contributor to the CARIBISNET; a Caribbean Export – facilitated network of Business Support Organisations in the Caribbean.

Additionally, we have established strategic contacts with the United States Services Coalition, as well as the IADB and several other Multilateral Funding Agencies.

One of the highpoints for the Coalition during the year was the hosting of a visit by a Croydon Trade Mission from the United Kingdom. Strategic ties were established with the Croydon Chamber of Commerce and they have offered to assist us with our Trade Mission to the UK, when we so desire.

At the invitation of Eteck, the TTCSI also made a presentation to an inbound Atlanta Trade team in February 2008, which was so well received that plans are underway to host an incoming mission to the US should Caribbean Basin initiatives prove successful.

7.4 CARICOM Certificate of Service Provider
The Trade Facilitations Unit was also responsible for developing a system for the issuance of CARICOM Certificate of Service Provider. This programme has suffered from the lack of practical recognition of the Certificates in the wider Caribbean network.

TTCSI’s internal mechanism is ready and waiting to execute the Certificates, when the recognition issues have been dealt with.

8.0 MISSED EVENTS

Although many things were achieved between April 2007 and March 2008, we are conscious that we did not undertake two key events that were planned for 2007 – the Annual General Meeting and Services Week. Both these events were planned for November 2007. However, the General Elections intervened and were followed by Christmas and then Carnival. In the circumstances, both events were postponed to 2008, with the AGM scheduled for April 2008.

A large Caribbean Services Summit hosted jointly by TTCSI and the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries is scheduled to take place in Barbados later in 2008. The key objectives originally planned for TTCSI’s Services Week will be pursued at this ground breaking Services Summit.

The event will feature to the International markets the services potential of Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean as well as consolidate the issues facing Caribbean Services providers.

9.0 LOOKING AHEAD TO TTCSI’S SECOND YEAR

As the second year in the life of TTCSI begins, the Coalition will need to carry out the two events postponedbecause of the General Elections. Other key early activities will be the CARICOM / Canada Free Trade Negotiations and the deepening of our sources of Funds, as well as continuing to grow the width and depth of our Membership base. The organization has been satisfactorily equipped and furnished and activities at the Secretariat are now settled. Staff has been recruited to lead the organization into the future.

10.0 CONCLUSION

The year ending March 2007 was an establishment and awareness period for TTCSI. This was successfully accomplished internally and externally, where the organization is already known and respected. Notwithstanding the focus on establishing a solid foundation, the organization’s mandate was vigorously pursued, to the benefit of the Members. As the first year of operations comes to a close, TTCSI has positioned itself very well to surpassing the objectives set up for it and to becoming the leading services umbrella body in the Caribbean.