UK aims to boost business ties with T&T | Local Business

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TRADE Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAC) Jonathan Knott says it is critical for the United Kingdom (UK) to boost business relations with Trinidad and Tobago.

He explained that the goal is to reinvest in business relationships with Trinidad and Tobago, noting that UK Export Finance can facilitate smoother financing for business collaborations.

He made the remarks during a Great Business Networking reception at the British High Commissioner’s residence last Thursday.

“UK Export Finance is the UK’s export credit agency. In the last five years we’ve provided £14 billion of support for exports and international trade. You can get finance and insurance from the UK government,” according to its website.

Speaking to a group of business people at the event, Knott said “My job is to increase the flow of business (between) UK, Latin America and the Caribbean. And in this case between the UK and Trinidad, (which) is especially important to the UK, now that we have left the European Union. Because we need to look to other places to do business…where can we invest or reinvest our business relationships. And in this case in Trinidad, its very, very much reinvest.”

He noted that he visited Trinidad and Tobago two years ago to get an idea of “what the environment was or what the horizons were and it felt good. I come back two years later and what I see we’ve been successful in doing that.”

Knott highlighted that there are several successful Trinidadian companies and noted that Trinidad and Tobago’s economy is growing.

Additionally, he said, “there are so many successful Trinidadian companies now partnering with British companies. There are so many really good British companies who are coming to Trinidad to be a part of this growing economy, for the first time in a while, the economy is consistently growing here and that’s really rewarding to come back and see.”

He reinforced the UK’s commitment to building meaningful connections with Trinidad and Tobago, highlighting the availability of UK Export Finance as a key support mechanism.

He said “It is an organisation who wants to make it easier, who wants to make financing more straight forward, less expensive so some of these relationships can happen, things which otherwise without the support of the export finance none of this wouldn’t add up, that’s categorising wildly.

So, that’s what this is all about, making things happen, which is what we are about.”

However, he stressed that this task is not only on his end but is more of a collaboration.

“Let’s work together to create those partnerships. Let’s work together to grow our economy, let’s work together to improve British, (and) Trinidad and Tobago life and standards,” he encouraged.

He believes this avenue underscored how keen the UK is to make partnerships happen and to “make it as easy as is possible for this to happen”.

Knott said during this visit to T&T he is meeting with members of the government to discuss some of the barrier to doing good business.

“Talking with them about the vision Trinidad has for its future, about its infrastructure, about how it can support its people and we are trying to identify, the team and I, how can UK companies contribute to that. How can we help Trinidad and Tobago realise the vision that it has for itself?

“We operate a little bit like a dating site, because we have fantastic black book of brilliant British companies but we are keen to meet or to have opportunity outside but they don’t know too much about it. So, of them to know countries on this part of the world back to front, part of our job is to find out what the contribution they can is in this part of the world in Trinidad and Tobago and introduce them to the right people,” he said. Highlighting the second part of his visit, he said, is to try and reach out to Trinidadian private sector as well because growth and success is not about government, but rather about putting together the right companies.

“So that’s a lot of talking to people like yourselves, understanding what your vision for your own companies, your own commercial future is. To again see whether looking in our little black book there might be someone to help you do what you want to do, maybe we can identify something that is stopping you succeed. To help you overcome.”

Knott indicated an upcoming business forum London on November, 5 “which is all about Trinidad and Tobago in the UK and a lot of that is trying to get the UK companies to understand what the opportunities are in this part of the world and they come here and invest.”

He added that potentially the first step is taking a look at this economy to get a sense what the opportunities are and also find local partners to work with. “Our hope is the source of that particular event were those connections can be made.”

Also speaking at the event was head of Export Finance Jesse McDougall, who is based in Huston, Texas with responsibility for North America and the Caribbean. “My task is to find` transactions where we can work together using UK government funding to do major infrastructure projects all the way to through the small…transaction. It’s a huge range of what we can do across a wide range of sectors. Giving examples of such projects financed in the Caribbean,” she said.

McDougal said they recently funded a hospital in Guyana, adding they have also funded water desalination plant, low emission fleets of buses, airport upgrades, construction works.

She said further the organisation intends to do similar type projects in the region reiterating that the UK is focused of increasing trade with T&T.

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