Swaratsingh: Agreement under way for World Bank in Port of Spain

Kennedy Swaratsingh -

AN agreement is currently before the Cabinet for the World Bank to establish an office in Port of Spain, Planning and Economic Affairs Development Minister Kennedy Swaratsingh said on October 14.

"When we first got into government, the Prime Minister dispatched me to Washington, where we had meetings with the World Bank. Over the last three years or more, the World Bank has been trying to establish a presence in TT. I can safely say now, as it is before cabinet, that we are in the process of signing an establishment agreement with the World Bank to have an office in Port of Spain," he said during a TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce post-budget forum.

Swaratsingh said having the World Bank in TT had several benefits, chief among them, access to expertise and funding.

In July, Swaratsingh announced plans to secure up to US$5 billion in funding over the next three to five years for diversification initiatives led by the private sector under the government’s economic revitalisation agenda.

A statement from the ministry said Swaratsingh met with World Bank officials during a four-day visit.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Davendranath Tancoo defended some of the initiatives outlined in the budget presentation on October 13 against criticisms of its impact on the country's climate and environmental goals.

Posing a question to Tancoo during the forum, Gregory McGuire expressed concern about the message being sent by the price reduction for Super gasoline, widening the age of vehicles allowed to be imported and removing some concessions for electric vehicles valued over $400,000.

"We must balance our climate change agenda with our domestic need. We can't simply close our eyes and do away with all our vehicles because we want a low carbon footprint and focus only on electric vehicles. We must marry national needs, national desires, national wants with international requirements."

It's a similar sentiment to one expressed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in her address at the 80th United Nations General Assembly on September 27.

Speaking to world leaders in New York, Persad-Bissessar commented on the climate agenda expressed by many countries, saying developed countries cannot force-feed it onto developing countries and blackmail them into cooperation. She said that many of the same developed nations actively supporting the imposition of an aggressive climate agenda achieved their developed nation status and prosperity through highly environmentally destructive and polluting industries.

"TT will, within reason, support actions to protect the environment for future generations. However, independent nations must be free to create a climate policy that is crafted to balance their development goals and poverty eradication policies with environmental protection. This balance is a pragmatic necessity for food security, civil order and economic growth."