Roach: Manufacturing, fastest growing non-energy sector

WHEN Roger Roach became a member of the TTMA board in 2013, he didn’t have an intention of becoming its president, he simply came to contribute and to serve.

But when he was elected president in April 2023, he knew he was part of an organisation which has become one of the most influential voices representing the business community.

During Roach’s two-year tenure as president he has championed TTMA’s commitment to advancing the manufacturing sector, fostering innovation and creating new opportunities.

From policy advocacy to strategic partnerships and industry development initiatives, Roach was at the helm of a list of TTMA’s achievements that made the manufacturing industry one of the fastest growing, non-energy sectors in the country.

Two years of growth

Roach told Business Day that when he was elected, Trinidad and Tobago was just getting over the covid19 hurdle.

"We had set ourselves a goal in 2020 to double our manufacturing exports by 2025. Covid19 put a spoke in that wheel."

In 2023, the TTMA was seeking to accelerate their goal.

"One of the things we asked ourselves was how do we get businesses to go out and seek new export markets."

He said the TTMA realised that some businesses, especially the SMEs, did not have the institutional strength to go after markets.

"For example, they most likely did not have an export department led by a competent professional, someone in the company to do market research and analytics, to see which markets to go into first. Therefore to bridge that gap we made the decision to accelerate our thrust through trade missions."

As a result, the TTMA hosted 12 trade missions over Roach’s two-year tenure.

"That’s an average of one trade mission every other month. We have taken many SMEs and some large companies who want to expand their exports into new markets. During that period we went to extra-regional markets, which is, we took 50 people to Ghana. Last year we went to Canada."

The trade missions helped 251 companies in total, leading to exports of about 62 containers within the first six months of each mission.

The TTMA’s 2024 annual report showed that revenue earned from the trade missions almost doubled between 2022 and 2024.

In 2022, the TTMA hosted three trade missions to Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica, with 75 participants.

As a result, 23 containers were exported with a value of US$700,000.

In 2023, 126 companies participated in trade missions to Grenada, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname, St Lucia and Antigua to Barbuda and as a result, 33 containers were exported, resulting in revenues of US $1.2 million.

In 2024, 124 companies participated in trade missions to Belize, The Bahamas, Ghana, Canada, Suriname and St Vincent and the Grenadines, resulting in 29 containers being exported for a revenue of US$1.3 million.

Trade missions were not the only activity in which the TTMA was involved.

The TTMA conducted more than 1,400 business-to-business meetings. It also was instrumental in trade negotiations, providing support for six rounds of negotiations between TT and Chile which has a market of 19 million people, and the first and second rounds of negotiations between TT and Curacao which has a market of 150,000 people.

The TTMA under Roach’s tenure also hosted more than 15 meetings of the Cabinet-appointed standing committee on trade and related matters, established to provide recommendations and advice to the Minister of Trade and Industry and the government by extension, on trade-related matters, which include regional trade issues and negotiations.

Roach led the TTMA through two trade and investment conventions (TIC), TTMA’s platform to connect local manufacturers and regional and international buyers. TIC 2023 had 276 booths and pavilions and hosted 287 registered local, regional and international exhibitors from different sectors.

There were 380 business-to-business meetings with some virtual and others in-person.

TIC also gave the TTMA the opportunity to educate with 12 webinars and four seminars.

In all, 20,719 visitors came to the three-day exhibition.

In 2024, the TIC hosted 320 booths from 38 different countries and 20,757 visitors.

It also held 22 seminars and hosted 427 business to business meetings.

The TTMA also contributed to educating businesses for growth, with more than 30 seminars facilitated on different topics including women in business, TTBizLink, trade facilitation and education on different markets. Each of these sessions had more than 60 participants.

The TTMA itself also grew by 149 members, bringing the total membership close to 600. It also trained more than 200 people through the manufacturing apprenticeship programme and 100 people in the woodworking apprenticeship in collaboration with MIC.

It placed more than 70 university students in the manufacturing industry through the TTMA/UWI summer internship programme. More than 60 employees were also certified in business short courses with the collaboration between UWI and ROYTEC.

Trinidad and Tobago business resilient

Roach lauded the TT business community, being one of its voices and faces for the past two years.

He described the business community as "resilient."

"We have been able to succeed despite a lot of challenges in the business environment," he said.

"One of the challenges is the ease of doing business in certain segments. Whether it is the chemistry, food and drug division, the port or other institutions where we certainly need to see improvements, the manufacturing sector has still been able to grow year-on-year for the past four years. In some businesses the growth has been phenomenal."

He said the manufacturing sector has proven its resilience through its growth and its investment in expansion.

He said in the last two years TTMA members alone have spent close to $2 billion in plant and machinery, affecting 2,000 jobs.

In March, stated-owned NFM launched its two-kilogramme flour and standing pack packaging lines, which came at a total cost of $25.6 million.

At a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 20, NFM chairman Ashmeer Mohammed said an additional line for ten-kilogramme packages is expected to be installed by the end of May.

Roach said the manufacturing sector is poised to move forward even as TT’s business environment and economy changes rapidly.

He said that because of forex constraints owing to the fact that TT is an energy-based economy, but production from the energy is contracting, TT has little choice but to diversify.

"Other parts of the economy has to earn more, both from a GDP point of view and a forex point of view.

"The manufacturing sector has proven to be a key element of that and the manufacturing sector has been growing year on year for the last four years

“We have re-established our predominant place as a manufacturing hub of the Caribbean,” he said. “The trade balance of TT manufacturing in the Caribbean is still in our favour but our businesses have proven to be very resilient in terms of coming out of covid19.”

There have also been incentives for the sector that assisted with its resilience.

The forex window, a special foreign exchange window for essential imports created in 2020, has been recapitalised year-on-year by the government since its establishment. It now provides up to US$25 million monthly to SMEs for essential items.

Roach noted that over 260 SMEs benefited from the window over the four-year period, which, in turn has seen the repatriation of over US$100 million per month in forex earnings.

"Sometimes a crisis leads to an opportunity. Gone are the days where you could go into a bank and get all the forex you need.

"The best way to earn foreign exchange in our sector is to seek out new markets and increase exports. That is what the TTMA has been focused on. That is what the TTMA has been doing."

Roach thanks Ministry of Trade, Eximbank

Roach especially thanked the Ministry of Trade and Industry for its support of the manufacturing sector during his tenure.

He said the ministry played its role to improve the ease of doing business and grow exports with the minister, Paula Gopee-Scoon, having a hands-on approach to the sector.

"It was the perfect example of how public and private partnerships work. The ministry of trade has played its role at the minister's level by travelling to different countries with us, to help tear down non-tariff barriers and to create relationships at the political level.

"The minister is a phone call away, the ministry has been working closely with us and that is a relationship that we would like to see continue going forward.”

He said on their missions, state enterprises such as ExporTT and InvesTT were on the frontlines, along with Eximbank.

He also lauded the ministry for its programmes outside of the trade missions as well, such as the export booster initiative.

"That is where the ministry provided the most support to the private sector. You can get support in overseas certification, a grant for investing in plant and machinery, you get reimbursement for shipping samples overseas.

"You get export development training and you get programmes such as the She Trade programme, which looks at women-led businesses."

The expansion of the single electronic window through TTBizLink was also a benefit to the ease of doing business

He added that the latest move to absorb the Ministry of Digital Transformation into the Ministry of Finance was a good move, that would further assist the ease of doing business.

"When we think about digital transformation in the public service we think about digitising ministries, but there is a lot of digitisation that needs to take place in state enterprises. The corporation sole is responsible for oversight of state enterprises.

"From the time it takes to get town and country approval or the clearance required from the EMA to build a new industrial building or park, or the approval required to import a product from the Chemistry, Food and Drug Division, all of these are state enterprises that have a direct responsibility for the ease of doing business.

"Putting a minister of that nature in the ministry of finance i think it could have a tremendous impact.

Roach said, all in all, it was the highlight of his career serving as TTMA president for the past two years.

Although he will no longer be TTMA president with Dale Parson being elected on April 9 at a TTMA leadership meeting at the Hyatt Regency, he is still a member on several boards.

He said he was proud and honoured to have been able to serve and contribute to the manufacturing sector.

"Because of the growth and development we are seeing, because of the investment that we are seeing by our members in manufacturing, because of the focus with regard to government policy in growing the manufacturing sector and because of the influence that I know the TTMA has, not only in our sector but in other sectors, I am grateful to have earned the opportunity to contribute to that."