PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Trinidad and Tobago and China are seeking to deepen trade and investment relations in the future with both countries participating in a forum that sought to commemorate and further develop cooperation between them.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Trade and Industry Minister, Paula Gopee-Scoon and Chinese Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Fang Qiu , pose for the official photograph with members of their delegations According to a statement issued here, the forum, held at the Chinese Embassy here, provided an opportunity for both countries to share investment opportunities in areas of mutual interest and strategic importance, and build on already existing commercial linkages.“Notwithstanding this period of unprecedented global disruption, this particular forum is a declaration of the strong relationship between our two countries and the many possibilities that lie ahead in terms of trade, investment and economic cooperation, Trinidad and Tobago’s Trade and Industry Minister, Paula Gopee-Scoon, told the second Trinidad and Tobago-China Investment Cooperation Forum.
It said among the sectors identified were distribution and logistics, manufacturing, nearshoring, agriculture, agro-processing and agri-technology, as well as the new industrial spaces being developed under the Ministry of Trade and Industry to facilitate such investments such as the Phoenix Park Industrial Estate and the Moruga Agro-processing and Light Industrial Park.
The statement said to underscore Port of Spain’s commitment to bolstering commercial relations with China and the Far East, Gopee-Scoon met with China’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Analisa Low on Wednesday “to review the initiatives that the Embassy in Beijing will engage in over the upcoming year to promote Trinidad and Tobago’s trade and investment opportunities in China, as well as South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.
They agreed on a work plan of activities to increase Trinidad and Tobago exports in Asia as well as attract additional investments from the People’s Republic of China particularly at the Phoenix Park Industrial Estate which is scheduled for completion in the end of January 2023.
China’s Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago, Fang Qiu, highlighted the strength of trade between the two countries, noting that over the last two years annual trade between them had exceeded one billion US dollars.
The diplomat said that during the first 11 months of last year, trade increased by 29.6 percent on a year-on-year basis to US$1.1 billion.
Fang noted that Hainan in south China has a tropical climate like Trinidad and Tobago and was modernizing its agriculture sector, while Shanghai was an industrial city which could provide resources for TT-China co-operation.
“The Phoenix Park Industrial Estate, the first Belt and Road flagship project in the region, attracts more and more companies, local and foreign, to settle in.”
“We could open a new chapter of co-operation and a shared future for the two countries.” The diplomat added.
He is predicting future Trinidad and Tobago-China collaboration in people exchanges, agriculture, digital economy, renewable energy and green development, as priority areas.
