(Trinidad Express) The health of the local economy depends on the country’s ability to fix the disparity between the wages of men and women.
This according to Errol Mc Leod, Minister of Labour, Small and Micro Enterprise Development who was speaking at the announcement of the results of the Association of Female Executives of Trinidad and Tobago (AFETT) Top Five Companies for Female Executives on Wednesday. The event was held at the Hyatt Regency (Trinidad) hotel, Port of Spain.
“Creating equity among women for economic growth is an important building block needed to pave the road to equal opportunity … as meritocracy is the backbone of democracy,” Mc Leod said. “It is not only investors, but the Trinidad and Tobago economy will benefit from the closing of the gender gap, shrinking economic inequality between males and females is considered the principal lever of economic growth in Western economies.”
He said AFETT’s work was another step towards closing this gap and so was the election of the Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. “The legendary glass ceiling of Trinidad and Tobago has received an additional crack. This comes on the heels of the gaping hole left in it on May 24 last year,” he said.
“The role that Trinidad and Tobago has taken in recognising the prominence of women has been long but the roots run deep …women have been leading this economy especially in the small and micro enterprises sector.”
