Minister of Trade, Investment and Tourism, Satyakama Maharaj, says Trinidad and Tobago is significantly closer to establishing a stronger yachting industry.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s Catalyst Conference on Wednesday, he explained that opening up Trinidad’s entire west coast and the island of Tobago to capitalise on the nation’s strategic position outside the hurricane belt will create a vibrant marine sector.
“We went and did a whole day with the marine sector, we identified twenty impediments to the growth of the yachting industry and after eight months, next month we have solved the 15th one. We have the SailClear system. So before you come in, you’ll have all the approvals, you won’t have to line up, right, and the yachts can come in.”
He noted that the project has great economic potential.
“These are high-value visitors. Sometimes they come here, spend 40, 50 thousand US a month. A cruise ship comes, the man spends 200 dollars and he goes back because he’s eating and drinking on the crew. We want the yachts to come. You know why they come here too? To repair their boats, to get services here and we have extremely talented people.”
The Trade Minister added that the Ministry is also fast-tracking decisions to facilitate the ease of doing business locally.
“We have moved licence approvals, 82% are approved, applications are approved in 24 hours. We are aiming for 100%, but sometimes the documents are not complete or there are other agencies involved. So we are open for business and we are facilitating business in any way possible.”