Barbados hosting first regional business startups forum
The Caribbean business community would appear to be attaching considerable importance to the April 29 – 30 First Caribbean Startup Summit at the Lloyd Erskine Centre in Barbados which is being held to support regional startup entrepreneurs and which, reports from Bridgetown say, will feature a range of regional and international speakers as well as representatives from a host of business organizations from across the Caribbean.
Stabroek Business has monitored reports from the region alluding to the anticipated presence at the forum of at least ten presenters at the forum from the Caribbean, Latin America, Canada the United Kingdom, North America and Africa from what has been labelled the Cable and Wireless Business and Ten, Caribbean Start-Up Summit. The Information Centre associated with the logistical planning for the event has billed the conference as a forum “dedicated to helping Caribbean entrepreneurs build and launch viable startup by exposing them to what support is out there and providing them with workshops, master classes and knowledge sharing forums.”
IATA boss wants Latin America, Caribbean to ease tax ‘burden’ on aviation industry
International Air Transport Association (IATA) Director General Tony Tyler wants governments in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce taxes in the aviation industry, which he says undermine the region’s prospects for connectivity growth and the benefits it stimulates.
At a recent forum in Chile, Tyler urged Latin America and the Caribbean to work collectively to harness the power of aviation connectivity in order to drive economic growth and job creation in the region.
The international aviation executive said, “Air transport in Latin America and the Caribbean supports more than 4.9 million jobs and US$153 billion in GDP” and that while it could create even more value, airlines operating in the region are confronted with “high taxes, onerous regulation and infrastructure deficiencies.” Tyler believes that “strong partnerships across the value chain and with governments can unlock untapped value and drive economic growth by tackling these issues.” This, he says, “is particularly important given the difficult economic situation in several of the region’s top economies.”
In advocating partnerships between governments and the sector “in pursuit of common goals,” Tyler said there is potential for “greater collaboration” in areas such as taxes, smarter regulation, cost-efficient infrastructure, and the environment.
Urban businesses uneasy over T&T’s industrial relations climate
Political cat-sparring in Trinidad and Tobago may be giving rise to a worsening industrial relations climate in the country according to the capital’s Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA).
A statement issued by DOMA over the weekend said the prevailing economic situation is serious and not temporary and that what was needed was direction instead of accusations and sensible policies instead of threats of disruption.
DOMA said that T&T’s present fiscal problems had been faced by many other countries and that what would set the country apart from others was how it responds to the serious economic plight.
“Already there are worrisome noises from some sectors and commentators trying to bait us in a game of rich versus poor and tribe against tribe. This will put everyone on the defence and worsen our chances of making sensible choices.
“It will also send a negative message to local and foreign investors that Trinidad and Tobago is cracking under the pressure of adjustment. Such a reaction from investors will worsen our predicament and create even greater hardship than that which is being complained about now,” the statement said.
