The Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has undertaken an assessment of the private sector through the Compete Caribbean Programme. The T&T Private Sector Assessment Report (TT-PSAR) is the result of this effort.
The findings of the TT-PSAR, which was completed last year, are intended to provide stakeholders with a complementary and comprehensive review of programmes, alternatives, and options, including a proposal for priority interventions and an action plan for private sector development. The success of this initiative will be reflected in re-energised private sector support in T&T, and ultimately stakeholders taking ownership of a decided action plan for accelerated growth and development of the private sector.
To this end, the report identifies six priority areas:
• Creating employment opportunities for the young
• Ensuring competitive market mechanism for imports into T&T
• Facilitating the expansion and specialization of the energy sector
• Filling in data gaps
• Improving the business climate with a focus on consumer
• Increasing access to finance in T&T
Compete Caribbean is a private sector development programme that provides technical assistance grants and investment funding to support productive development policies, business climate reforms, clustering initiatives and small and medium enterprise (SME) development in the Caribbean region. The programme, jointly funded by the IDB, the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD), supports projects in 15 Caribbean countries.