Rolling out the red carpet for investors … Trinidad and Tobago hailed as one in the top ten improvers in the 2015 Doing Business Report

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Released Wednesday, October 29th, 2014, the 2015 Doing Business Report ranks Trinidad and Tobago among the top ten performers worldwide!  Specifically on page 5 of the Report it states that “among the 21 economies with the most reforms making it easier to do business in 2013/14, ten (10) stand out as having improved the most in performance on the Doing Business indicators: Tajikistan, Benin, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Azerbaijan, Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. Together, these 10 top improvers implemented 40 regulatory reforms making it easier to do business.”

The Report further states that “being recognized as top improvers shows that thanks to serious efforts in regulatory reform in the past year, they made the biggest advances toward frontier in regulatory practice.”

Trade Minister Vasant Bharath, “we are working overtime to achieve our goals”

Senator the Honourable Vasant Bharath, Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications said of the results ‘we are working overtime to achieve our goals.  I want to thank the lead on the Ministry’s reform package, Mr. Randall Karim, Director, Policy and Strategy and his hard working team in the Policy and Strategy Directorate for their fortuitous contribution in positioning Trinidad and Tobago as making business easier’.

In a letter addressed to the Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communication, Director of the World Bank’s Caribbean Country Management Unit – Latin America and the Caribbean Region, Mrs. Sophie Sirtaine said ‘I would like to convey my sincere congratulations to Trinidad and Tobago on its ranking in the 2015 Doing Business Report … which places your country once more in a leadership position in the region.’  As the only economy from Latin America and the Caribbean who is ranked among the top ten improvers worldwide, she noted that ‘the reforms your country engaged on span across the highest number of indicators in the Caribbean’.  Furthermore, ‘such reforms are leading to tangible benefits for entrepreneurs: starting a business now takes 11.5 days for an entrepreneur in Trinidad and Tobago – on par with international best practice – down from 35.5 days in 2013’.

Main highlights of Trinidad and Tobago’s performance in the 2015 Doing Business Report:

• Trinidad and Tobago is among the 10 top improvers worldwide (the only economy from Latin America and the Caribbean)
• Trinidad and Tobago has gained 12 ranks
• Trinidad and Tobago’s reforms span across the highest number of indicators in the Caribbean
• Trinidad and Tobago made starting a business easier by introducing online systems for employer and tax registration – Starting a business now takes 11.5 days for an entrepreneur in Trinidad and Tobago – on par with international best practice – down from 35.5 days in 2013
• Trinidad and Tobago is nearly 4% closer than last year to global best practices in business regulation, as measured by its Distance to Frontier (DTF) rank.  The DTF shows how each economy performs not only vis-a-vis other economies but also in absolute terms

Trinidad and Tobago made resolving insolvency easier by introducing a new restructuring proceeding. It also strengthened the rights of secured creditors during reorganization procedure.

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago realizes that a critical component of attracting and retaiing investors is an enabling environment for business.  This ranking in the 2015 Doing Business Report cements the fact that the Government has in fact been pursuing business enabling initiatives through an aggressive package of institutional, legal and administrative reforms with the aim of improving the local investment climate.  And our work for you the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago continues.