While due perhaps to the compelling distraction resulting from the intervention of Hurricane Beryl, little has been heard from CARICOM member countries regarding the pace of progress of their collective February 2022 commitment to reducing the region’s food import bill by 25% by 2025. Trinidad and Tobago, through ExportTT Ltd., the country’s national export facilitation organization, charged with generating export growth and diversification in the non-energy goods and services sectors, has dropped a hint that the twin-island Republic continues to have that target in focus.
ExporTT Ltd., General Manager of Client Services, Dhanraj Harrypersad is quoted in the Thursday August 29 issue of the Trinidad Express as saying that while the entity had no ‘numbers’ by which to specifically measure the extent of the country’s progress towards 25×2025, there has, nonetheless, been an increase in manufacturing activity in the country, a development which, he believes, could potentially alleviate some of the country’s foreign exchange foreign exchange shortage.
One particular development alluded to by Harrypersaud was what he reportedly said had been a shift by distributors “who have historically only been involved in distribution,” “engaging in manufacturing now as there is the scarcity of forex (foreign exchange) and everyone is trying to engage in some sort of activity that will generate more forex and that often leads them to export and to engage in manufacturing for exporting.”
During the interview with the Express, Harrypersad reportedly named companies operating in the twin-island Republic in the food and beverages sector that have stepped up production and diversified their production lines. Harrypersaud also referred to what the Express report describes as “plans to ramp up the production of the types of plants” that are linked closely to the push to increase food production.
CARICOM, as a whole, has avoided providing iron-clad assurances regarding whether or not the region will meet the 25×2025 target. However, with Guyana being key to the realization of the target, President Irfaan Ali has gone on record as expressing confidence that the target will be met.
Pointedly, no timeline within 2025 has been declared for the achievement of the 2025 deadline though a February statement from the CARICOM Secretariat had quoted Dominican Prime Minister Rooseveldt as saying to the 46th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government back in February that CARICOM was “on course” to meet its 25×2025 undertaking.
Earlier confidence-boosting pronouncements on the issue of meeting the 25×2025 target are yet to be updated against the backdrop of Hurricane Beryl and the extent to which repairing the damage done by the hurricane will impact the realization of the 2025 target.
