Constraints Affecting Marketing in T&T

Constraints Affecting Marketing in T&T

Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti are two of four countries from which a US-based company has recalled peanuts, because there is a possibility that it is tainted with bacteria that has sickened and killed people. The Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) last Wednesday issued an alert to recall all of its products it shipped since January 2007. More than 500 people in 43 states have been sickened by salmonella and eight deaths are linked to the outbreak, triggering the FDA to order one of the largest food recalls in history and asking that consumers throw out every product made by PCA. The roasted peanuts, granulated peanuts and peanut meal were shipped to Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Haiti, and Korea.

Trinidad and Tobago is currently enjoying a period of unprecedented prosperity due to high energy prices - economic growth has averaged 7.7 percent per year since 1994. Trinidad and Tobago has the features of a 'dual economy' and this 'duality' feature raises questions regarding the sustainability of the current growth rate and the possible present and future binding constraints to growth. We apply the Growth Diagnostic Methodology to try to identify the growth constraints and establish a ranking of priority, particularly for the nonenergy sector, which is key for the country's diversification efforts. To complement the macro analysis, a survey was administered to 500 local firms to determine the perceived constraints to growth from the business perspective. Our results indicate that while fiscal policy is moving in the right direction, and many of the constraints to growth have already been eliminated, the underdevelopment of the non-energy tradable sector could seriously hamper Trinidad and Tobago's future economic growth. The Open Forest analysis suggests that the export product space is not very well diversified and the prospects for diversification appear grim. The micro data reveals that the main concerns of the business owners include macro risk, low profitability, lack of complementary inputs such as poor infrastructure, and rising crime.

Trinidad & Tobago is a middle income1, energy-rich country with relatively strong institutions and political stability. It is the most industrialized economy in the Englishspeaking Caribbean, with a population of 1.3 million and a territory of 5,128 km2. It is part of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a regional co-operative Trade and Common Market agreement which became operational in August 1973. Its energy sector accounts for more than 40% of GDP and 80% of exports, but only 5% of employment. It is the most important world provider of ammonia and methanol, as well as the largest supplier of Liquefied Natural Gas to the USA. The country is currently enjoying a period of unprecedented prosperity because of high energy prices: economic growth has averaged 7.7 percent per year since 1994 and socioeconomic indicators are improving.

Trinidad & Tobago has the features of a 'dual economy'. The energy sector is a source of self-financed investment making it independent of national savings and fiscal revenues.

However, the benefits of large investments in the sector do ...