THE CARIBBEAN INVESTMENT FORUM 2008: “Where Global Markets Meet Regional Opportunity”

“Where Global Markets Meet Regional Opportunity” is indeed as wide and complex a topic, as it is timely. The new international financial architecture spurred by globalization marks one of the most radical changes in the past decade or so. It has brought impressive increases both in trade and private capital flows. To use language that has become current, there has been a remarkable and unprecedented acceleration in the pace of globalization. The attendant challenges however, are significant and include exchange rate volatility and other vulnerabilities that demand coherent policy responses at the national level. As Trinidad and Tobago seeks parity with developed nations, amidst the torrential force of globalization, Government’s policy pendulum has swung toward the creation of a prudential framework necessary to support an international financial centre and in tandem, to capture the benefits of cooperation and openness.