Guyana Shield countries for October Water Management workshop
A workshop on water management in the countries of the Guiana Shield is to be held in Cayenne, French Guiana from October 23-25, 2013.
Water resources management issues are fundamental and relevant at the hydro-geological scale of the Guiana shield. The six countries of the Guiana Shield – Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil – share trans-boundary river basins and use of common water resources, such as drinking water, transport, energy and fishing.
We’ve passed the worst – J’ca’s Finance Minister
Jamaica’s Finance Minister, Dr Peter Phillips says Jamaica has passed the worst as far as the effects of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) structural adjustments are concerned.
However, Phillips cautioned that the country is not yet out of the woods. “There’s definitely pain before gain in the sense that we will have tight budgets for some time to come,” he said.
The Finance Minister also signalled that Jamaicans will be spared from increased taxes over the next few years as the focus will remain on increasing the tax base.
“What we really want to do in relation to taxes – without getting into specifics, is to reduce effective rates and broaden the base so that you can have lower rates. We want to also reduce the tariff rates, particularly on things to do with machinery and equipment and raw materials… you want to get out of the way of those who produce,” he said.
T&T ranked 92nd on Global Competitiveness Index
Trinidad and Tobago has fallen to 92 out of the 148 countries listed on the latest Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) ranking, dropping eight places from last year’s ranking of 84.
Compiled by the World Economic Forum (WEF) the GCI ranks a country’s competitiveness according to factors that include quality of infrastructure and ability to foster innovation. The GCI report on T&T showed that while the country’s ranking dropped, the WEF had reclassified T&T as an innovation-driven economy.
Economies are classified in three stages of development—factor-driven, efficiency-driven and innovation-driven. T&T is the only country in Latin America and the Caribbean in this innovation-driven category which ranks “the best and most productive countries in the world.”
T&T’s Caricom neighbour Barbados ranked 47 while Jamaica ranked 94.
T&T, Venezuela seal gas production deal
Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela have sealed a deal to jointly produce gas from fields located between the two countries. Venezuelan state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and Chevron Corp will produce the gas from unified offshore fields that contain nearly 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The deal was sealed on Tuesday night with Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine, who travelled to Caracas to wrap up the agreement. The agreement is scheduled to be signed in Caracas next week.
Regional Investor of the Year Award launched
The Caribbean Export Development Agency, in collaboration with the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion agencies (CAIPA), has announced the launch of the first Regional Investor of the Year Award for the members of CAIPA.
Member countries include: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
A regional investor is being defined as an investor into one or more of the aforementioned territories in the region.
The Regional Investor of the Year Award has been developed to recognise and promote the contribution of both local investors within the region and foreign investors to the region. Their contributions include the creation of new jobs, adherence to high standards of corporate social responsibility, capital spending and largely fiscal support to economies through payment of corporate taxes, inter alia.
The Regional Investor of the Year Award will also seek to recognise investors in strategic areas of importance to the region, eg green energy, research and development, projects that involve a high degree of innovation and creativity and those that are championed by women.