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  • 2 years ago
As the analysis of the Mid-year budget review presented by Finance Minister Colm Imbert, continues, we share the perspectives of the Manufacturers Association, the Tobago House of Assembly and the Agriculture Sector.

As Nicole M Romany tells us, concerns of land tenure, access for Small and Medium enterprises as well as food stability take the fore.
Transcript
00:00President of the Manufacturers' Association, Roger Roche, says the sector has been working hard to expand its export market,
00:08especially the small and medium-sized businesses.
00:12He states that while CARICOM markets have been doing well, they also have their eyes on international markets as well.
00:20Roche admits there has been some decline, but is adamant that there is great potential for growth.
00:27In 2003 versus 2023 versus 2022, the non-energy manufacturing sector grew by 29 percent,
00:37led by a substantial growth in the food and beverage sector.
00:41We saw growth in tobacco, we saw growth in textiles and apparel, we saw growth in printing and packaging,
00:48and we saw growth in chemicals and non-ionic materials.
00:54Coming out of that rapid growth, we expected a slight decline the following year.
01:01But if we take what is going to happen in 2024, with the kind of work we're doing with Export TT, with Invest TT,
01:10with Ex-Im Bank, and all the trade missions that we're going on, the future is bright for non-energy manufacturing.
01:20According to Chief Technical Advisor in the Division of Finance in the THA, Anselm Richards,
01:25there is need for constitution reform to properly address the issues affecting tobacco.
01:31He says one of the areas to treat with urgently is the amendment to Section 75
01:38that gives authority to Cabinet over tobacco and sets out what tobacco is in charge of for itself.
01:45Further, he wants an amendment to Section 113, which provides for the appropriation bill or the budget.
01:53And establish in law what is the minimum share of the national budget that should be afforded to Tobago,
02:03or the Tobago Assembly, for the execution of its work.
02:06What we have, we have a recommendation from the DRC that says between 4.03% and 6.9%.
02:14That is not law, but it has been the convention since 2000.
02:18The 4.03% was based on the population size of Tobago at the time, which is 23 years ago.
02:24Richards says Tobago continues to face grave challenges when it comes to budgetary processes
02:31and the way it is executed for Trinidad and Tobago, which impacts heavily on Tobago's development agenda.
02:38Also on the panel was National Agriculture Consultant Riyad Mohamed,
02:44who believes agriculture continues to be neglected.
02:48He has this recommendation to remedy the many walls plaguing the sector.
02:53We need to connect the public sector to the private sector and the education sector.
03:00You see, we do have that nice continuum of information flow, right?
03:05We're going from institution to institution.
03:07So usually the universities will publish these nice fancy papers and put them on the library shelves.
03:12What we need to do is to send that to the public sector, to our extension officers,
03:16let them read, understand, do extra trials and tests,
03:20and then send practical information to our farmers so that they will be updated with the modern production methods.
03:27Mohamed tells TV6 the government had plans to boost the local coconut industry in fiscal year 2023 to 2024,
03:37yet consumers are paying more due to the devastating red ring disease.
03:43He is asking now, what is the status of the rehabilitation program aimed at revitalizing Aegean plantations?
03:51He says these are just some of the many issues impacting the local industry.
03:57Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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