Economic Impact Of The India-T&T MoUs

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:01]Trinidad and Tobago's relationship with India appears to be entering a new phase following the visit of India's external affairs minister Dr. Subramanyam Jay Shankar and the signing of eight new agreements spanning healthcare, infrastructure, tourism and renewable energy. But beyond the diplomacy and ceremony, what are the potential economic benefits for Trinidad and Tobago? Well, economist uh Dr. Indira Sajiwan joins us this morning. Good morning Dr. Sajiwan.

[00:00:32]>> Good morning Vamala and good morning to all your viewers.

[00:00:36]>> How are you today?

[00:00:38]>> I'm good. Not so bad. How are you?

[00:00:41]>> I'm okay. Also a happy belated mother's day to you and thank you for always joining us on the show. And now to help us unpack this um this significant visit this weekend. Well, tell us just that.

[00:00:52]How significant is this visit from an economic and trade perspective?

[00:00:57]>> Well, I think it's very important.

[00:00:59]Before we get into that, let me to um join you in wishing all mothers of the nation a happy belated mother's day.

[00:01:06]Well, every day is mother's day really.

[00:01:08]Indonesia's day give us one day of celebration. But this visit I think was very important. It is very important because it follows on the heels of the visit of Prime Minister Nodi who was here in 2025 July who made certain commitments and what we have seen since then is some follow through with respect to those commitments made and this particular visit I felt sought to even strengthen the relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and India and put us on a pathway that it is beyond as you say just the ceremony and the pump and the cutting of you know of of ribbons but it is more a concrete um some concrete signals were absolutely sent.

[00:01:57]For example, I know that um the equipment for the establishment of an agrop processing plant has been in the country courtesy of the government of India for quite some time now. And I felt that the the the government used this opportunity to launch that initiative. That is an important initiative especially in the context of the government of Trinant Tobago identifying agriculture and agricultural export as a major driver of the economy.

[00:02:31]In fact, they've set a target of increasing agricultural exports by uh about I think one billion dollars 2026 2027 and potentially doubling that thereafter. So this is this is a a a an initiative that really supports that entire drive. So that is that is one the first thing. The second thing is what we're seeing now on the screen. The National Prosthetic Center that started off even before now when the government of India gave 800 prosthetic um limbs that were distributed from the National Council of Indian Culture headquarters and those were distributed I think not long too long after the visit of President Moody. And here we are having the establishment of a center, a prosthetic center with what we're hearing to be potentially a center of excellence in pro prosthetics that can serve not just Trinidad and Tobago but the wider region. More interestingly, this center has been located in Pinal of Trinant Tobago, an area that has been underserved when it comes to the issue of development that has remained extremely rural. And in my view, this center can form the what we call um the the core entity that around which other related health care initiative can emerge and we can see the emergence of a economic of a health care cluster emerging in this part of Trinidad and Tobago with the potential of generating jobs, employing doctors because the the program also speaks not just of delivering the limbs, the Jaipur limbs, but also of the training of our local health care professionals to be able to become become more experts in this whole area. So it it opens up an entire new area for us Vimala in Trinidad and Tobago. So I think that the Indian government is is showing that it is it is more than interested in having a physical presence here. We know that the Indian high commission has been in Trinant Tobago for a very very long time. There is the Indian um the the um the Gandhi center that a a lot of events are hosted at. They're they're already very strong in thing like ua in in in yoga in music on many cultural um aspects. They're they're already quite strong in terms of building their presence and making their impact in Trinant Tobago. This I believe what we're seeing now is taking it to another level. the signing of some memorandum of understanding that speaks to the issue of supporting us with respect to the tourism industry, renewable energy, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals. Another very important one, Vima, the issue of pharmaceuticals.

[00:05:44]As we all know, India is the leading deliverer of of um of what is the word I'm looking for of generic um health products that works as effectively as the branded products for cents on the dollar really. And this uh if we can strengthen our relationship here as already we're seeing that will go a long way in terms of being able to provide the nation with with much more affordable uh pharmaceuticals.

[00:06:18]I would like to see that go one step further. I would like to see it not just be that we are importing pharmaceuticals from India but I would like the government to start a conversation about us having firms from India who are producing pharmaceuticals who are involved potentially in R&D creating a linkage between that and the and the University of the West Indies. So we create a backward linkage to pro to setting up the factories that are producing the drugs because that we are so ideally located visa v Latin America visa v you know so many countries that Trinidad and Tobago in my view could be that gateway that allows the production of these pharmaceutical um drugs to be able to not just reach our doors but to be able to be produced here and to reach so much further a far. Yeah, Dr. Sergio, I know that um you know, we've had such a a huge focus on the agri sector as well.

[00:07:24]So, how important is the agro processing component that was announced during this visit?

[00:07:31]>> Well, it's a $1 million worth of investment um uh startup that has been provided. Of course, there's room to build on that, but agriculture by and large in I I I imagine the focus will be on areas that we are not currently involved in because you may not be you or you may know that um that food and beverage is the largest segment of non-energy manufacturing in Trinidad and Tobago export manufacturing. So we already have quite strong capacity in in the production of food and beverages in Trinad and Tobago for the export market. I think this this initiative may go the step further in terms of working with smaller suppliers.

[00:08:21]It is my expectation that it might be linked to one of the ETH agro um agro um parks and that there are backward linkages directly with farmers. India is very very heavy in terms of um climate resilient agriculture which is extremely important for a small island state like ours. They are also very he very heavily involved in the in the development and the production of appropriate technologies technologies for agriculture and agrop processing that are in terms of that are cost much more cost effective than if we were to be procuring from a United States or some other developed part of the world and therefore strengthening using this as a stepping stone to strengthening that whole area is very worthy. We know this government has al aligned its target with respect to that of carryom in in terms of setting itself a target for reducing our food import bill by 25% in a very short term. So that this kind of initiative if worked well and if worked in partnership with the government of India can really result in in a in a rapid roll out of that aspect of our um of our economy and you know I am a the the the poster child for for diversification for non-energy diversification and this is an opportunity here that we have now I want to really single out the current high commissioner of India who is who has been extremely aggressive and and maybe aggressive might be a strong word, but but the word I'm using for who's been very um committed to supporting Trinidad and Tobago in as many ways as he could possibly find for that to happen. And you know this and we're seeing his hard work bearing fruit. There is the UPI um initiative that you you we that we should talk about which is the unified payment interface which is about really creating innovative opportunities for business transaction for payment transaction that is that is paperless um cashless and we have already um launched a pilot project with respect to that with India. Now this is not just a program that is India. It's it's it it is it originates in India. It is available throughout India where I understand I have not seen it myself where but where if you're on the side of the street you know and there's a vendor you know you can just pull your phone out and the technology exists to allow the payment to be made very seamlessly and that is what they have offered to tran what we have already started to see being rolled out but this program it's available in countries like Singapore the UAE Malaysia and and many other countries in the world have actually taken this program on board and and are using it quite successfully. So this is another initiative brought to Trinidad and Tobago by the government of of India and we're seeing it being rolled off from my understanding it reduces the costs of transaction much much more relative to some other online payment programs that are on that are on offer. So again initiatives that we are seeing that are that are going to help us you know let us be real in the current dispensation where we have so much geopolitical issues that are plaguing the world there so many issues outside of geopolit the geopolitics trade issues you know what has been happening with respect to global inflation etc and in all of that India continues to be one of the fastest growing economy in the world its growth rate is it's it's averaging around 7%.

[00:12:27]Higher than even China much higher than the United States and that is not to be dismissed. India has set itself a target of becoming the third largest economy by 2030 and it is really reaching out its hands to countries such as ours in order to be able to lend assistance. Of course, we it is not that we bring nothing to the table. we're ideally located, our level of of infrastructure of technology, etc. It lends itself to us being very much a natural partner to a country such as India that is making that kind of attempt to be able to broaden its its reach. But what is important, it is not just ceremonial in its offerings, but it is very concrete in what it is offering to us. And it is offering us initiatives that can if we are smart enough and we use it to effect can help us with our own agenda when it comes to issues such as non- energy diversification um you know becoming a a regional hub with respect to offering cheaper pharmaceuticals etc. >> Thank you very much uh Dr. India Siduan for joining us this morning. always a great contribution and always helping us to understand um you know so much and as you said this is not just symbolic it's not largely symbolic you know hopefully there is so much more we can get and and measurable economic impact coming out of this thank you very much have a great day >> thank you very much for having meal if I could just end by saying sure at the end of the day you know it is for our government because are you know the eightus those are words on paper it really is for us to understand and appreciate the value that a country like India can bring and to really work with the hands that are being offered to take advantage in this moment to help our own development and align our agenda with what is being on offer to get to where we want to go.

[00:14:34]>> Thank you very much Dr. Sajuan. Have a good day.