RUSHTON PARAY
AS TT looks toward its next phase of development, it is time to move past the rhetoric of diversification and into implementation. The evidence is clear: the future of our economy lies in the services sector. While energy and manufacturing have underpinned our economy for decades, they no longer offer the growth, resilience, or employment opportunities we need. A government serious about long-term prosperity must prioritise building a services-based economy.
The global shift toward services
Globally, the services sector now accounts for more than 65 per cent of GDP in most advanced and many developing economies. Countries that once depended heavily on commodities have shifted their economic models to services.
Singapore, for example, transformed itself from a small trading port into a global hub for finance, logistics, healthcare, and digital services.
Barbados, with far fewer resources than Trinidad, has successfully positioned itself as a destination for high-value tourism, international business services, and remote work.
Mauritius moved from a sugar-based economy to one centred on financial services, information and communication technology (ICT), and business process outsourcing (BPO). These countries share key traits with TT: small size, limited natural resources (or depleting ones), and a need to compete through skills, technology, and strategic positioning.
Why services are right for TT?
There are several reasons why TT is particularly well-suited to lead a regional transition into a services-based economy:
Skilled, English-speaking workforce
TT has a relatively high literacy rate, strong university enrolment, and a growing pool of ICT-skilled young people. As English is the global business language, this gives us a natural advantage in areas like offshore education, BPO, customer service centres, legal process outsourcing, and IT services.
Strategic geographic location
We are just four hours from Miami, with strong air and sea connectivity to both North and South America. This makes Trinidad ideal for nearshoring business operations – especially as American firms look to reduce dependency on Asia and shorten supply chains.
Digital infrastructure
Trinidad has one of the more robust telecom infrastructures in the Caribbean. With further investment from the Universal Service Fund, we can close digital access gaps and make every household capable of interacting with government and commercial services online.
Untapped creative potential
Our Carnival economy, music exports, culinary innovation, and fashion sector remain undervalued in economic policy. These are real exports. Streaming platforms, digital animation studios, and music licensing platforms offer viable growth paths that require low physical infrastructure but high digital and cultural capital.
Diaspora and Commonwealth networks
Our diaspora communities in Canada, the UK, and the US are well-positioned to support services exports – whether through remote medical consultations, offshore university cam
