T&T to host VIII Americas competitiveness Forum in 2014

Trinidad and Tobago will host the eighth Americas Competitiveness Forum in October 2014, the Ministry of Planning said in a release yesterday.

The theme  will be “The Human Imagination at Work: Driving Competitiveness, Powering Innovation”.

The Planning Ministry is in charge of leading the Government’s contribution to the forum.

As part of preparations for the forum, the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation of American States (OAS) is currently visiting Trinidad, meeting the institution representing the country to discuss issues, establish execution timelines for events, review facilities and ascertain the progress of preparations.

The OAS team includes Maryse Robert, director of the Department of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism (DEDTT); Cesar Parga, chief of DEDTT’s Office of Competitiveness; and his colleagues in the Office, Adriana Bonilla and Juan Carlos Montoya. The team will depart tomorrow.

The forum is the Western Hemisphere’s pre-eminent event for government and business leaders to discuss innovative methods to achieve economic competitiveness and promote innovation in the Americas, the release said.

It was conceived from a need to promote trade, address immigration reforms, and highlight the importance of research and development (R&D) as a key competitiveness tool. The forum will also address the fact that the Latin American and Caribbean region lags behind the rest of the Americas regarding income equality and the level of investment that occurs in research and development.

The forum will bring together more than 1,000 leaders from 34 countries in the region, including heads of state, cabinet members, business executives, trade delegates, academics, and representatives of the private sector and international non-governmental agencies.