00:00The launch was held at the Maritime Campus of the University of Trinidad and
00:03Tobago in Chagoramas and the program will be offered at the Caribbean
00:08Fisheries Training and Development Institute. Offered at two levels, trainees
00:13will be exposed to content-specific modules as well as on-the-job training.
00:17Speaking at the launch, Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopiskun
00:22stressed that several programs geared toward the youth are in keeping with
00:26Vision 2030. The minister said this country's geographical location below
00:32the hurricane belt is attractive to those within the yachting and marine
00:36sector. As a result, TNT is ideal for sailing, storage and other marine
00:42activities. We've already implemented an international awareness campaign to
00:48aggressively promote our services that sells us together with our location and
00:54this initiative involves monthly placements in four international yachting
00:59magazines. And during the pandemic, many individuals and businesses in this
01:05sector were severely impacted. This is within the yachting sector locally and
01:10in need of financial and support. And what we did, the government through the
01:15Ministry of Trade and Industry responded decisively with the introduction of a
01:21grant facility for micro and small enterprises in the yachting sector. In
01:26addition to providing support for the sector, the minister said it is time for
01:31this country to be up to date with certain procedures. A couple weeks ago,
01:36the government announced that almost 200 vessels came to our shores to
01:40shelter from hurricane Beryl. While this was a welcomed move, the processing time
01:46left much to be desired. Minister Gopi Skoon said that steps are afoot to
01:51introduce a system that is already in use in over 25 countries that is aimed
01:57at improving efficiency. Additionally, what the government is also doing is
02:02reviewing the processes and procedures for arriving and departing yachts and
02:07non commercial marine vessels by our border agencies through the
02:11introduction of what is called a seal clear system. What it is, it's an online
02:16platform which is operated by carry com Customs Law Enforcement Council and
02:23that provides pre arrival and pre departure notifications from vessels
02:29arriving or departing from any port in the region. Even though arrival figures
02:34are not yet where they'd like it to be, the government believes its investment
02:38in the sector would yield much fruit. Looking at the data from the customs
02:42and excise division, we saw arrivals rising in fiscal 22 to 421 31 yachts
02:50from nothing when the borders were closed, closed completely. And in fiscal
02:542023, we saw an increase to 578 yachts in fiscal 2024 where we are now over
03:01the past nine months, we've seen this upward trend continuing. So they're
03:07coming back and whilst we are grateful for this, however, it's still not at the
03:12levels that we are accustomed to where we are hoping to see at least about 3000
03:18vessels coming in per annum. Actual girl stands if you six news
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