The Government of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) plans to replicate, in its country, the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) junior stock market model.

T&T’s Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon says the twin-island Caribbean republic has been trying to set up a junior market platform, noting that her country is looking to establish a model similar to the one being used in Jamaica. She indicated that, despite attempts to establish the platform, “we really haven’t gotten it quite right as you [in Jamaica] have.”

Hence, the government’s decision to “come directly to you and strengthen our relationship and our partnership” in facilitating the undertaking, the T&T Minister said while speaking at a bell ringing ceremony at the JSE in Kingston on Tuesday. The event marked the formal launch of a partnership that now allows Jamaican investors to acquire shares in entities listed on the Dutch Caribbean Securities Exchange (DCSX).

The JSE junior market allows investors to channel capital into listed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Gopee-Scoon explained that the Trinidadian Government is looking to attract SMEs that focus on receiving capital investments and interested in listing on the proposed junior stock exchange.

She declared: “What better place [to receive it than] on the market? We’re going to borrow some of your Exchange programmes [and]… the business development side of things… we spoke a little bit about.”

Gopee-Scoon, in lauding the JSE on its strides in the capital markets industry, said the entity remains “attractive to, not only the Caribbean, but the global financial community”.

The minister led a T&T four-day trade mission to Jamaica that ended yesterday.