MP, Mayor hope San Fernando benefits from increased TT-India trade

San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris at the Doing Business with India forum at Level 2 RRM Plaza, San Fernando, on August 9. - Photo by Innis Francis

SAN Fernando West MP Dr Michael Dowlath and San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris are optimistic that San Fernando can benefit from increased trade between Trinidad and Tobago and India.

They expressed their optimism when they addressed an Invest India forum at RRM Plaza, High Street, San Fernando, on August 9.

Dowlath, who is also Education Minister, said he is pleased with the donation of 2,000 laptops for schoolchildren arising out of one of the bilateral agreements signed in TT last month during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

That visit was part of a larger initiative by Modi to visit certain countries to promote greater South-South dialogue.

Dowlath said he was very eager to receive the laptops in the near future.

He told his audience Modi's visit had an influence on the government's plans for national development.

Dowlath described the visit and bilateral agreement arising out of it as a "key pillar of our national development strategy."

Drawing the attention of the audience to their specific location, Dowlath said San Fernando has been known as the industrial capital of TT and then the country's educational capital at different times in its history.

The former, he continued, was linked to the energy sector and companies connected to this sector having their major operations in South Trinidad with San Fernando being at the core of it.

A former Naparima College principal, Dowlath said San Fernando was deemed the country's educational capital because of the high-quality educational institutions there.

He agreed with Greater San Fernando Chamber of Commerce president Kiran Singh's views about the importance of TT to explore additional opportunities for trade and investment after the recent imposition by the US of a 15 per cent tariff on TT goods entering that country's market.

Dowlath said the old ways of doing business will not help carry TT into a sustainable future.

He acknowledged the comments of Indian High Commissioner to TT Dr Pradeep Singh Rajpurohit about opportunities in several sectors which TT and India could explore for their mutual benefit.

In this regard, Dowlath hoped increased TT-India trade could have spillover benefits for San Fernando and help it to become this country's innovation capital or hub.

In his address, Parris believed twinning San Fernando with a city in India was a prospect he would be excited to explore.

He said given strong bilateral ties between TT and India, there is no reason why a supply chain cannot be set up from San Fernando to India, to bring in goods from the latter.

Parris hoped one of the initiatives which San Fernando could benefit from, arising from increased TT-India economic ties, is the improvement of Harris Promenade into a place which all burgesses could be proud of.

He disclosed a recent memo he received from Rural Development and Local Government Minister Khadijah Ameen which outlined several quick-impact projects to improve the quality of life of San Fernando residents.

Despite the fact the San Fernando City Corporation is currently controlled by the opposition PNM, Parris said politics is something which must never trump national development.

"Put the politics aside. My job is to represent everybody in San Fernando and I do it with my heart."

Parris also acknowledged the presence of former local government minister Chandresh Sharma in the audience.