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Business executive: Trump’s policies can bring opportunities

DESPITE a dim and grim outlook for 2025 given by some in the business community, amid concerns over operational costs and economic constraints reducing customers’ spending power, president of Phoenix Park Gas Processors Ltd (PPGPL) Dominic Rampersad says Trinidad and Tobago can still find great opportunities in one of the more unlikely of people – Donald Trump. Rampersad said Trump’s policies can very well bring opportunities in the US for TT business and businesses. “I had the opportunity to meet with a senior executive in one of the largest oil and gas companies in the world last week. I asked him what does, ‘Drill, baby, drill,’ mean? "He said what it means is that they can get the oil and gas out of the ground – but the oil and gas infrastructure and services to get it from the well to the market is where the challenge lies.” Rampersad shared his thoughts at a panel discussion during the American Chamber of Commerce’s (Amcham) economic outlook forum at the Hilton Trinidad on January 29. After the panel discussion, Rampersad said the increased drilling would produce more product and more natural-gas liquids (NGLs), and for PPGPL, the opportunities lie in securing more of it. “What we have done is created a niche market in the US. We are not the biggest player in the world, but there are a lot of consumers who would prefer to deal with the smaller suppliers. What we intend to do is continue to develop that niche.” He said PPGPL has two projects that could reach the investment-decision stage as early as the end of the first quarter. He said he expected content from US oil rigs will come to market in as soon as two-three years. “Now is where your investment has to start, because you have to be ready. You can’t have the products in the market and are now trying to put the facilities in place.” AMCHAM: COMMUNITY LOSING CONFIDENCE AI and data lead at Ernst and Young Indar Ramcharan, in sharing results of Amcham’s economic outlook – which is compiled from the results of a survey done by its membership – said confidence in growth is dramatically low, in a complete turnaround from the results of the year before. He said the number of people confident in TT’s economic growth this year stands at 21 per cent, down from 71 per cent last year. The outlook indicated that only 13 per cent of businesses believe operational costs will rebound to levels that would allow companies to be positive. Last year the number stood at 25 per cent. Economic constraints facing customers waere one of the biggest changes, as 79 per cent of businesses believe that it is affecting customers' ability to buy. Last year the figure was 60 per cent. “We feel that our customer segments are being significantly impacted, which ultimately leads to the economy not growing in 2025,” Ramcharan said. Amcham president Stuart Franco said in his address, as the country enters an election year, leaders need to have certain focuses. “Those aspiring to political office have to start talking about policy, with specifics, to identify how they propose to address the myriad of problems facing TT “Our leaders need to find some common ground on key strategies that can lead to economic growth and the business community needs to be more closely engaged as these plans are not only developed but also rolled out.” However, he noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a 2.4 per cent growth in the economy this year, with the gross domestic product (GDP) expected to reach US$29.24 billion by the end of 2025. He also pointed out that Moody’s has affirmed TTBa2 rating with a stable outlook with the operationalisation of the TT Revenue Authority being seen as a big step forward and the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) and cash reserves providing a buffer against risks. “In summary, despite the challenges we face, TT’s economic prospects for 2025 are not calamitous. In fact, we still have some limited fiscal space to recalibrate. The longer we take to change course, however, the fewer policy options we have.” The post Business executive: Trump’s policies can bring opportunities appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.