Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago is a form of a unitary republic with a representative government and which has a degree of autonomy. During the 2001 elections where two major political parties tied to the elections, there was a repeat of the elections where the people national movement got the majority support making it the ruling party. In the year 2007, there were elections which were held and this was highly characterized by the increased level of economic status of the country (Reyes & Bronfman, 2013). Due to these actions, there was a proposal to have an executive president. Up to this date, there have been two main political parties which have been on the urge of ruling the country, the united national congress and the people’s national movement.

The kind of government is that of a representative with a degree of the regional autonomy. Head of states is not an executive elected president through the parliament. The executive is headed by a prime minister and who also heads the cabinet.

In terms of the index of the political stability of the country, there is a possibility of an absence of terrorism and or violence. This measures the likelihood of the government being destabilized or being overthrown by any means which are most likely very unconstitutional or the violent methodologies (Reyes & Bronfman, 2013). Such actions can be politically motivated and which might cause violence or can be influenced by terrorism. This means that the country is likely to experience a disadvantage in terms of violence and this might cause the economy of the country to drop significantly.

The country is very open for the foreign direct investment (FDI). In the year 2013, the foreign direct investment of Trinidad and Tobago was at the top with at least $1 billion. This means that the developing countries continue to grow in terms of the FDI with a global percentage increase of 54 percent (Krausmann et al., 2014). Trinidad and Tobago is one of the countries known as the small island developing states which captured at least 63 percent of the total developed regions transnational corporations. With this ideology, the increase was from 41 percent to about 63 percent in terms of the foreign direct investment of $6 billion.

The country has been recording an increase and an advance in terms of the economy and also enhancing the climate of entrepreneurship in the recent years. The overdependence on the oil and gas hold back the development of the private sector but there has been progressing in the diversification of the base of the economy. The job growth and nonoil productivity have been negatively affected by the inefficient investment which is very nontransparent. Trinidad and Tobago are basically one of the wealthiest countries in the Caribbean belt (Krausmann et al., 2014). Exports of hydrocarbons account for at least over 40 percent of the total growth domestic products and a total of 80 percent. In early 2016, the government was implicated for the lack of controlling the prices of the natural gas and oil production.

According to a census which was conducted in the year 2011, the total population of the country was at 1, 328,020 which is an increase of at least 5 percent from the year 2000. From the world population prospect, the population in 2010 was at 1,328,000 but this is an increase from 645 000 people in the late 1950s (Reyes & Bronfman, 2013). the proportion of the children who are below the age of 15 in the year 2010 was at 21 percent, those between the age of 15 to 65 years was at 70 percent and only 8 percent for those above 65 years. Due to the decrease in the fertility level, the composition of children who are at the age of 15 and below has been going down while that of the elderly people keeps increasing. Median age population has been increasing to 33 percent in the year 2011 from 22 percent in the year 1980.

The Indo-Trinidadians contribute to being the country’s ethnic group with the highest population of approximately above 37 percent. This group is originally from South Asia who was used to work in sugar plantations after the Africans resisted torture (Krausmann et al., 2014). Africans make up the second largest group with at least 36 percent, whites or their popular reference as Europeans who make up only a small percentage of close to 7 800 people, mixed ethnic group make up a population of at least 23 percent and the Chinese who make up a population of close to 4 000 people. Each ethnic group communicates according to the most known language which is specifically English.

The major urban centers are Laventille with a population of 157 260, Chaguanas with 67 430, Mon Repos with 56 381 and San Fernando which has a population of 55 420 (Prout & Nichols, 2017). The rate of employment is very low since there is a 4 percent increase in unemployment according to the 2016 report. The employment rate is low mainly because of the reduction in the amounts of exports which boost the economy to promote job opportunities. The labor force is at 11 percent for those participating in economic duties, 12 percent for the nonparticipating and 13 percent for the people who have secured formal employment.

The educational attainment level in this country is at 5 percent for those females above the age of 25 years at primary level, 36 percent for those who completed secondary and 31 percent for those who went to post secondary levels (Krausmann et al., 2014). For the males, there is a reduction compared to the females with a 3 percent in the primary, 3 percent for secondary and 37 percent for those in post secondary levels at above 25 years.

The energy sector in the country is almost stabilizing meaning there will be an end of recession at the end of the year 2017. The country depends mostly on oil and gas in its operations and it is the most income earning the type of business.

Gross domestic product to per capita income in the country was measured to be at $29 570 in the year 2016 after an adjustment through the purchasing power parity. GDP per capita income after adjustment by the parity of purchasing power is almost at 166 percent to that of the whole world (Prout & Nichols, 2017).

The rate of inflation in the country is at 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2017. The exchange rate is at a buying level of $6.7 and a selling rate of $6.7 in USD, 7.8 buying and 8.2 selling in the Euros. Both of these are the main income generators and the exchange rate stands at that level as at July 27, 2017.

Due to the growth in the economy, there has been the development of infrastructure, transportation, electrical systems and communication (Reyes & Bronfman, 2013). There has been an improvement since the late 1980s from 4000 kilometers in the south to about 5000 and from 8000 in the north to about 10 000 in the year 2016. This has been an increase since the previous years the most used mode of transport was the private method. Major industries in the country are petrol and petroleum industries, liquefied gas, ammonia, steel industries and methanol industries which contribute to the greatest drivers of the economy.

Petroleum and its products are the major exports including ammonia, liquid gas, and urea. Major imports are from the United States and Japan. Trade barriers or restrictions on trade in the country include the requirement to have licenses to import commodities or any subject to import related charges, an additional twelve and half percent of value added tax on the dutiable goods (Krausmann et al., 2014). Major competitors in the shoe industry include the shoe industrial suppliers, Trinidad & Tobago holdings, and the Csa industrial suppliers. Dealing with these three main industries known in the Caribbean is very hard but quality strategies and implementation will make the tennis shoe industry very successful in the market. Using the latest technology and handling personal contracts for the minor players will be important. Competition can be used to the favor of the industry through depending on local contracts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Krausmann, F., Richter, R., & Eisenmenger, N. (2014). Resource Use in Small Island States: Material Flows in Iceland and Trinidad and Tobago, 1961-2008. Journal of industrial ecology, 18(2), 294-305.

Prout, P., & Nichols, S. (2017). Quality-of-Life, Risk for Malnutrition, and Polypharmacy Among Persons on Haemodialysis in Trinidad and Tobago. The FASEB Journal, 31(1 Supplement), 791-8.

Reyes, G., & Bronfman, J. (2013). Trinidad and Tobago. Beyond Contributory Pensions: Fourteen Experiences with Coverage Expansion in Latin America.