TTIFC CEO calls for focus on exports

Vishanna Phagoo

CHIEF executive officer of the T&T International Financial Centre (TTIFC) John Outridge says that access to finance and talent is crucial for establishing this country as a fintech hub and encouraging businesses to adopt cashless transactions.

However, he emphasised that there also needs to be a focus on exports.

“We are where we are; the focus really has to be on exports. When talking about the fintech sector, that is where we see the biggest enabler, particularly for the businesses,” Outridge said.

Outride made the comment while speaking at the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TTCIC) Business Economic Outlook forum yesterday at Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, Port of Spain.

However, Outridge noted that the challenges and barriers are significant, attributing them to a reluctance to deal with the complexities of banking, which can create friction.

“These are the sort of things that we’re working on, because there are 25,000 small businesses in T&T and after doing a financial inclusion survey last year, we realised that 88% of MSMEs did not possess the type of information required to open a business bank account,” he said.

Outridge added that when approaching financial institutions as an MSME, having the right documents is essential, and a business bank account becomes fundamental.

He also highlighted the lack of cashless transaction options as another challenge arising in the business sector.

“Going into the business sector, 76% of them did not have the means to conduct transactions electronically,” he said.

Outridge stated that this issue can further dampen export initiatives.

He said that business owners may participate in trade missions hosted by the Trade and Industry Ministry and ExporTT, but concerns about payment methods will inevitably arise.

“In 2023, Mastercard did a study within T&T and Jamaica to evaluate the social cost of cash and it was argued that the T&T economy could grow by an additional 3.5% if the country increases its electronic payments by 30%,” Outridge said.

To put these figures into perspective, Outridge noted that nearly everyone uses their Linx card, with Linx processing over four million transactions a month.

To achieve the 3.5% growth target, T&T would need to increase this number by 1.2 million transactions monthly.

“We have one million Linx cards in T&T, so that would mean we have to do one additional transaction a day. But for all the things that I mentioned, there are significant barriers, challenges, trust and cost,” he said.

He explained that this is because businesses need to assess the resources they have and can afford to invest in such a transformation.

Adding to this, TTCIC president Kiran Maharaj mentioned that the chamber has intensified its efforts to support the SME sector, with the recent Digimark Conference serving as evidence of this commitment.

She also announced that the Chamber plans to launch an SME conference next year.

Maharaj further noted that the chamber looks forward to fulfilling its role through its cooperative agreement with the T&T Stock Exchange’s Small and Medium listing.

“(We will be) facilitating discussions towards the establishment of venture capital initiatives; providing guidance to angel investors; support MSMEs who want to scale up; exploring opportunities for public and private sector partnerships; and leading conversations to accommodate joint ventures with foreign direct investment.”