00:00The Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association celebrated its President's Dinner and Awards on Thursday night.
00:08Delivering the feature address, Pamela Cook Hamilton, Executive Director of the International Trade Center and a Caribbean woman, shared her
00:16thoughts on the present climate.
00:18We have stumbled on implementation. There's no doubt about that. Along the way, we've also missed opportunities to translate some
00:26of those non-reciprocal trade preferences into reciprocal trading relationships.
00:31We have run into roadblocks, not just in making full use of our trade treaties with our partners and bringing
00:38new ones to the fore, but even in developing the sort of seamless, unified Caribbean market that the CSME itself
00:45promised.
00:46It wasn't just the treaties, she said, that were imperfect.
00:50It was the fact that many of our firms, often understandably, were not ready to take the risk to use
00:57what these agreements afforded.
00:59And that same risk aversion is apparent among the financial institutions whose ability to provide trade finance is so critical
01:07and yet is so often underused.
01:09We cannot remain in a risk-averse posture. Not now. Not when export-led growth, diversification and stronger supply chains
01:19are so urgent for our region's future.
01:21Canada and the EU are reconsidering trade diversification strategies in response to today's highly charged economic environment.
01:30And that opens a window for Trinidad and Tobago and for our Caribbean neighbours to revisit these trading relationships and
01:39leverage, to the extent that it's possible, deeper and making them work more effectively.
01:45In fact, we looked at the potential to boost Trinidad and Tobago's trade with the EU and found that there's
01:52still almost a half billion in untapped potential, roughly one-fifth of your worldwide total.
01:58She says there's plenty of room to grow, but some sectors need targeted support and urged that the country cannot
02:06let these opportunities go by.
02:09In Winner's Row, Ramesh Ramdin was celebrated for his 20 years of service to the industry.
02:15Nicholas Lockjack recounted that Ramdin took over the TTMA when it was in financial crisis.
02:20We relied a lot on our rent from the building, which I think is MTI pulled out of, and we
02:29had a hole there.
02:30We liquidated all our investments and covered operating costs.
02:36We had the TIC show, which is a big money earner, used to be in here.
02:42And single-handedly, Ramesh took this organisation, rebuilt it from the ground up, put it back in a financial positive
02:51situation.
02:52Ram's Logistics received the Award for Excellence in Leadership.
02:56Sean Roach received the Individual Excellence in Leadership Award posthumously.
03:01The trade mission champion was none other than Trade Minister Kama Maharaj's Sasha Cosmetics.
03:08Angusura won the Innovator of the Year 2025 Award.
03:12For breaking into new markets and staying there, the Exporter of the Year was awarded to Novo Farms in the
03:19Small and Medium category and Langston Roach in the Large.
03:23There was a tie for the Supply of Services Award between Qualitech Machining Services and the Caribbean Corporation for Governance
03:31Institute.
03:32Nutramix was named the Green Manufacturer of the Year.
03:36And there were three Lifetime Achievement Awards, former Association President Wayne Yipchoy and Haji Akalu of Sheikh Leesha, both posthumously.
03:46And quite possibly the youngest lifetime achiever was none other than Nicholas Lockjack.
03:52The best for Trinidad and Tobago is yet to come.
03:55I challenge everybody out here to think beyond it.
03:58There's a generational shift happening through business in the entire region, from Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Guyana, Trinidad.
04:06You see first generations going out, second generations coming in, third generations coming in.
04:12And I challenge everybody to be as hungry as your original founder.
04:16And for the crowning glory, the Small Manufacturer of the Year went to Crystal Limited, Medium went to RHS Marketing
04:24and Large Akado Limited.
04:26Trade Minister Kama Maharaj, a businessman and member of the TTMA, shared his thoughts.
04:32For 70 years, the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association has served as the undisputed voice of business enterprise.
04:45For a manufacturer, there's a particular satisfaction in securing that first overseas order.
04:55Someone in another country has chosen your product.
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