00:00The energy sector is crucial to the economic recovery of Trinidad and Tobago,
00:04including boosting the flow of more foreign exchange,
00:07so says Chairman of the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers, Vivek Charan.
00:12He believes the reopening of the Guaracara refinery would be one of the wins for the sector.
00:18The fact that the U.S. has signaled through major, you know, through Marco Rubio,
00:24and, you know, perhaps later on we see what President Trump has to say directly on this.
00:29If anything at all, the reality is that it signals globally that the United States of America
00:36is supportive of our refinery project in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:42And that means that that could only have a positive effect on any foreign investment
00:49that could possibly be coming in.
00:51Charan states that it is left to be seen whether that support would lead to monetary investments
00:56by the U.S. government toward the reopening of the refinery.
01:00He says many small regional business chambers benefited when it was in operation,
01:05such as through spin-off businesses and increased employment
01:08for skilled and unskilled people in the area and environs.
01:12Prime Minister Kamala Posad-Bissessa has stated that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
01:17has agreed to put TNT on to the U.S. Department of Energy
01:21to assist in sourcing the best partner for the reopening of the refinery.
01:25According to the CRBC, it could lend to TNT being seen as politically stable and capable.
01:32Suriname, Guyana, and Venezuela are countries from which the oil and gas to be refined can come from.
01:38In January of this year, U.S. intervention in Venezuela led to the extraction of President Nicolas Maduro.
01:44There are those who are concerned about the level of control the U.S. now has in Venezuela,
01:49including the influencing of how their assets, specifically their oil and gas, are being channeled.
01:55But Charan says positive steps have been taken to benefit the Venezuelan people from the actions of the U.S.
02:01He says what he calls Del C. Rodriguez's opening up of the energy sector, in a sense, as one of
02:07those changes.
02:08When we see the growth of Suriname, Guyana, and I would hope the growth of Venezuela,
02:15you know, towards a better economy themselves,
02:19I think that we seem to be positioning ourselves firmly within this area
02:27as a, let's say, a major player to the development of energy in this geographical area.
02:35Whether or not the focus of the U.S. from the start was on Venezuela's oil and not drug trafficking
02:41is something Charan feels this country shouldn't be overly concerned about.
02:45He isn't ruling out that America is trying to secure a more viable and even safer line of energy
02:51from this hemisphere than what it has coming from distant countries.
02:55And if that is going to be backed up, these contracts are going to be backed up,
02:59you know, by paying contracts and so on, and now we have foreign direct investment coming in,
03:03then what's wrong with us?
03:05I think that is exactly what we need because, I mean, globally, while all these things are happening,
03:11we have to have a certain level of national interest that puts our people and our needs first.
03:18Despite the U.S. voicing concern about China's influence in the region,
03:22the CRBC doesn't foresee any loss of independence for this country
03:26pertaining to its relationship with the Asian superpower.
03:29Charan says it is to a large extent hinged on trade.
03:33China is one of our largest trading partners in terms of imports into China.
03:37And you don't think it can impact that?
03:39No, I don't think it can.
03:40I don't think it can impact that because the truth is that we are, you know,
03:46we are equally importing a lot from America.
03:49Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
Comments