Mission is a key project under TT’s Export Booster Initiative

Durrant Pate/Contributor

A trade mission from the Trinidad and Tobago is now in Jamaica exploring business opportunities and partnerships with their local counterparts.

The trade mission to Jamaica, which kicked off yesterday (November 20) will run until November 24. The trade mission is being led by Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee-Scoon.

The delegation of businessmen on a trade mission comprises 17 companies from the Chemicals, Printing and Packaging, Food and Beverage and Construction sectors, including Infinite Wood Working, Bricha Ltd, Albrosco Ltd, VF Packaging Limited, Caribbean Health Foods Ltd, Chem Clean Ltd, Micro Milling Ltd, Nio Digital, Rojan Marketing Limited and Angostura, among others.

While in Jamaica, Gopee-Scoon will hold discussions with Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, and Senator Aubyn Hill, minister of industry, investment and commerce, and other key government and private sector officials.

Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago trading

The trade mission is organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturing Association, ExporTT and the National Export Facilitation Organization of Trinidad and Tobago. Jamaica is a significant trading partner with Trinidad and Tobago ranking among its top 50 import sources and top 15 export destinations for the last five years.

Over the period 2017–2021, Trinidad and Tobago maintained a favourable trade balance with Jamaica with the main exports being aerated beverages (soft drinks), pre-cooked/packaged cereals, chocolates and cigarettes, plastic insulated copper conductors, and sweet biscuits.

The main imports include iron/steel, soya bean oil, condensed milk and glass fragments.

The trade mission is geared towards determining business opportunities within the Jamaican market for Trinidad and Tobago companies and establishing and deepening strategic business and logistical relationships between manufacturers and buyers.

This trade mission is a key project under the Export Booster Initiative, which is a strategic initiative of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago geared towards increasing the value of all non-energy exports over the next three years.