Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

Economic Development Board (EDB)

 

The Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Council for Competitiveness and Innovation (CCI) were established in 2011 by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to develop and implement comprehensive strategies to accelerate sustainable economic growth and prosperity for the nation. Both Boards work under the direction of the Minister of Planning and the Economy and reports to the Ministerial Council for the Economy, chaired by the Honourable Prime Minister.
The role of the EDB is to “reshape our strategies for economic development by facilitating diversification and achieving a diversified economy within the framework of sustainable development” while the role of the CCI is to “take action to make our firms more competitive, expand exports and improve our competitiveness ranking in the world”.

The roles of the Economic Development Board and Council for Competitiveness and Innovation will naturally have some areas of commonality given the nature of their mandates. While the EDB is tasked with issues regarding the overall objective of economic development and the CCI with issues of business competitiveness, there will not only be the necessity for collaboration between the two bodies, but they will have instances of mutually reinforcing roles and activities. In practice both Boards work closely together.

Both Boards are guided by seven pillars for sustainable development as initially expressed in the Manifesto of the People’s Partnership and further articulated in the Medium Term Policy Framework 2011-2014. These pillars are: (i) People Centred Development, (ii) Poverty Eradication and Social Justice, (iii) National and Personal Security, (iv) Information and Communication Technologies (v) A more Diversified, Knowledge Intensive Economy, (vi) Good Governance and, (vii) Foreign Policy.


THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BOARD

The Board is chaired by Dr. Thackwray Driver- CEO Energy Chamber,with the following membership:

Mr. Ian De Souza– General Manager, Corporate Investment Banking, Republic Bank Limited

Mrs. Gail Sooknarine- Ragoo– Operations Manager, Venture Credit Union Co-operative Society Limited

Dr. Patrick Watson– Director, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute or Social and Economic Studies

Mr. Kazim Boodoo- Executive Director, Lifetime Roofing Limited

Mr. Bruce Mackenzie– Executive Director, Caribbean and South America, ASCO

Mr. Aiyegoro Ome- Foundation member of the National Joint Action Committee and CEO Nigerian Chamber

Mr. Peter Mitchell- Senior Planning Officer- Ministry of Planning and the Economy

Mr. Maurice Suite– Permanent Secretary – Ministry of Finance

Click here to view the Biography of the Board Members.

 

Over the medium term, 2011-2014, the EDB will be focusing on:

  • Exploring and pursuing selected initiatives in alternative energy
  • Identifying those sectors in our national economy and the technologies that Trinidad and Tobago could exploit over the next fifteen to twenty years, in the creation of a sustainable economy.
  • Developing new socio-economic spaces in five regions of Trinidad and Tobago – East Port of Spain, Central, South West Peninsular, North Coast and the North East Coast of Tobago
  • Consulting with stakeholders and wider society on key decisions in the development agenda in consort with the Civil Society Board (CSB)
  • Support the Ministry of Planning and the Economy in developing a National Innovation Policy
  • Collaborate with the Council for Competitiveness and Innovation to improve global competitiveness and support an investment strategy for diversification