Diversification! Oil prices falling!

[silent_riot]

If we now include the June 2015 figures, the Gov't Energy revenue actually decreased even more (25.7% instead of 19%) compared to the Oct-June 2014 period. Non-energy revenue, however, went up by 6% compared to the same period as last year.

[silent_riot]

If we look at the trend of revenue sources in the last five years or so, one can notice that while there is a decrease in Energy and Oil revenue, there has been a consistent increase in Non-Energy revenues. Somewhere in 2013-2014, Non-Energy revenues actually surpassed Energy revenues.

(Note: only Oct-Jun periods were compared since June 2015 is the most recent data, and the entire 2014-2015 fiscal data is not yet available)

[The_Honourable]

SLOWDOWN

Central Bank: Natural gas production, manufacturing, construction hurting T&T economy in first half of 2015

Trinidad and Tobago's economy has declined in the first six months of 2015, the Central Bank (CBTT) has said.

In its September Monetary Policy announcement, released on Friday, the Bank said economic contraction of the T&T economy is now estimated at two per cent in the first half (H1) of 2015.
“Trinidad and Tobago's domestic economic outlook has deteriorated. Provisional estimates indicate the domestic economy contracted by close to two per cent in the first half of 2015. Continued shortfalls in natural gas production saw the energy sector decline by an estimated 3.5 per cent in the first six months of 2015. The non-energy sector, which has provided support to the overall economy for the past few years, lost momentum, declined by around one per cent in the first half of 2015. This decline was mainly due to a slowdown in construction, distribution and manufacturing. Early indicators point to continued sluggish economic performance in the third quarter of 2015,” the CBTT said.

Inflation was not as bad as initially expected, the Bank said.

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20150927/news/slowdown

On a year-on-year basis to August 2015, headline inflation slowed to four per cent from just over 5.5 per cent in July 2015.

[Miktay]

A majority of Economists and political commentators in sweet T&T talk about diversification...yet none have a clue how to make thiz actually happen.

And none admit that u can diversify yourself into a worse position.

My 04 cents.

[Dizzy28]

One of our biggest problems in T&T is the ease of doing business r.e. our investment climate. In a study by the World Bank in 2010 on the role of investment incentives in FDI in developing countries, they found out that the Investment Climate in a country was more important than labour costs and market size in sampled countries. [2010. The Role of Incentives in attracting Investments. Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group]

Trinidad and Tobago over the past 7 years has ranked between 66th to 97th in the world wrt ease of doing business as measured by the World Bank. If we improve on how business is done in Trinidad we will be on our way to starting diversification.

[silent_riot]

A majority of Economists and political commentators in sweet T&T talk about diversification...yet none have a clue how to make thiz actually happen.

And none admit that u can diversify yourself into a worse position.

My 04 cents.

Very true.
Diversification also means that the citizens may also enjoy less of what we experience today.

[Numb3r4]

Don't worry everything will be alright. God is a Trini don't you know.

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

Don't worry everything will be alright. God is a Trini don't you know.

[Numb3r4]

CNC3 reported that the energy sector is in even more trouble with many energy companies laying off persons. In addition with limited or a reluctance to drill production is suffering with many companies canceling contracts and reducing the number of contractors...sigh...

Even the energy chamber admitted to this, still they did not admit to the number of folks being laid off. Does anyone know this figure with respect to Trinidad?

[The_Honourable]

To expand on Dizzy28's last comment:

[desifemlove]

A majority of Economists and political commentators in sweet T&T talk about diversification...yet none have a clue how to make thiz actually happen.

And none admit that u can diversify yourself into a worse position.

My 04 cents.

because they often mention tourism, ICT.....Business chamber has made many docs on this, offering ideas. and worse position? how? so identify skills, which are big world industries, and a forward plan is worse position...cool bro..

[Miktay]

One of our biggest problems in T&T is the ease of doing business r.e. our investment climate. In a study by the World Bank in 2010 on the role of investment incentives in FDI in developing countries, they found out that the Investment Climate in a country was more important than labour costs and market size in sampled countries. [2010. The Role of Incentives in attracting Investments. Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group]

Trinidad and Tobago over the past 7 years has ranked between 66th to 97th in the world wrt ease of doing business as measured by the World Bank. If we improve on how business is done in Trinidad we will be on our way to starting diversification.

Am not sure there iza clear correlation there. 

India iz ranked lower than sweet T&T (149th). Yet India received more FDI than China or the US in the 1st half of 2015.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/pay-o ... 49770.html

Even if and when we receive FDI ...the citizens of sweet T&T must always ask why?

Many of the local branches of multinational plants and factories didn't locate to our shores for anything other than cheap subsidized natural gas.

And that's not really diversification...iz it?

Cuz w/o cheap fuel them plants will pack up and go.

because they often mention tourism, ICT.....Business chamber has made many docs on this, offering ideas. and worse position? how? so identify skills, which are big world industries, and a forward plan is worse position...cool bro..

A worse position iz when government thro millions of tax payer $ behind projects that fail.

[bluesclues]

like dey never learnin school project supposed to done by deadline. always starting some project that need 3 and 4 terms to complete as though they can last that long in power.

governments have to start finishing their major projects by election time. or at least reach a significant milestone where it can still bring benefit to the nation after all that expenditure. there are some projects that can change hands and there are some projects that, well, somebody was feeling like they had alot of money sto spend so they start to splurge like some big amateur investor lol

[NR8]

Am not sure there iza clear correlation there. 

India iz ranked lower than sweet T&T (149th). Yet India received more FDI than China or the US in the 1st half of 2015.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/pay-o ... 49770.html

Greenfield FDI. And India has cheap labour.

[desifemlove]

One of our biggest problems in T&T is the ease of doing business r.e. our investment climate. In a study by the World Bank in 2010 on the role of investment incentives in FDI in developing countries, they found out that the Investment Climate in a country was more important than labour costs and market size in sampled countries. [2010. The Role of Incentives in attracting Investments. Investment Climate Advisory Services of the World Bank Group]

Trinidad and Tobago over the past 7 years has ranked between 66th to 97th in the world wrt ease of doing business as measured by the World Bank. If we improve on how business is done in Trinidad we will be on our way to starting diversification.

Am not sure there iza clear correlation there. 

India iz ranked lower than sweet T&T (149th). Yet India received more FDI than China or the US in the 1st half of 2015.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/pay-o ... 49770.html

Even if and when we receive FDI ...the citizens of sweet T&T must always ask why?

Many of the local branches of multinational plants and factories didn't locate to our shores for anything other than cheap subsidized natural gas.

And that's not really diversification...iz it?

Cuz w/o cheap fuel them plants will pack up and go.

because they often mention tourism, ICT.....Business chamber has made many docs on this, offering ideas. and worse position? how? so identify skills, which are big world industries, and a forward plan is worse position...cool bro..

A worse position iz when government thro millions of tax payer $ behind projects that fail.

KFC iz T&T's FDI....

[drchaos]

Agreed! Poor work ethic is the major problem we have. I am employed in the public service and you see it everyday. Low productivity and nil repercussions from management or seniors. Its a multifaceted problem ... lazy mentality of workers, poor management and seniors who will not hesitate to disregard your contract.

[silent_riot]

You know it's real funny. I see everyone posting that they acknowledge that poor work ethic is a problem we face, but no one says "Yes, I admit I really should really be working harder than I have." Where are all those people?

[Lance]

People tend to speak about diversification as though it can happen within a relatively short space of time once their is intention.

Diversification is a induced structural change in economic activity. It requires immense capital and labour movement to simply get it going. This is difficult enough to without even acknowledging the institutional deficiencies that make our various markets highly inefficient.

Then you have to deal with the whole issue of comparative and competitive advantages. Politicians tend to speak about diversification without acknowledging these aspects of international trade and firm level strategy. This largely determines which diversification strategies fail.

[Lance]

You know it's real funny. I see everyone posting that they acknowledge that poor work ethic is a problem we face, but no one says "Yes, I admit I really should really be working harder than I have." Where are all those people?

Milton Friedman once said that people seem to believe that "none of us are greedy, it's only the other fellow who's greedy."

I think we feel the same way about our lazy culture.

[EmilioA]

You know it's real funny. I see everyone posting that they acknowledge that poor work ethic is a problem we face, but no one says "Yes, I admit I really should really be working harder than I have." Where are all those people?

If only we all had UML's work ethic.

[bluesclues]

well i out a dat. i live and set an example. anywhere i work they always get my best. im always the most skilled and efficient worker both local and abroad. no boss could ever complain about my productivity because i turn $0 into 100,000.

the thing is. i love my job and career and would never do something just to make ends meet. never. i would die chasing my dream if thats the way it has to go. so you find that the passion is driven by interest, and productivity is driven by passion. efficiency is a lil different, you need to train in efficiency or have an efficiency expert pulling up ur socks every time u do something too inefficiently until you understand.

i can tell u one thing for sure, is that trinidad organisations both government and private, have major room for efficiency improvement. its the difference between working hard and working smart. doing less work but gaining more profit. small input big output. it doesnt come from slave driving employees like dogs and pressuring them to work faster. it comes from management finding ways to increase the efficiency of operations.

[janfar]

Which job you excel at? The IT guru, the financial guru or astral plane guru?

[bluesclues]

Which job you excel at? The IT guru, the financial guru or astral plane guru?

well is only 2 of those actually bring me any money, but IT definitely. there's no aspect of IT i cant cover in any organisation. and always provide a 'no complaints' tenure anywhere i work to my last day when i resign. in my experience however, when you join a job whether is a management position or technician position, because im naturally sharper and focussed on what im doing other employees think im trying to show them up. then you have to read your environment and decide whether u have to downplay your skill or leave the job. like, peer pressure to become inefficient.

sometimes is even management pressuring a subordinate to not be so efficient. so within our organisations, business owners really need to consider a proper approach to increasing efficiency within that culture of underachieving and peer pressure to inefficiency we have going on. one thing is for sure, you can never win if the employee is not happy with the arrangement. if they want to be inefficient you'll be like a dog chasing his tail trying to force them to increase productivity. so a way has to be found to make them want to increase their productivity for themselves.

but better yet. hire ppl who love and are passionate about what theyre applying for. the ones who dont care drag down the ones who do. a professional however will ignore all that and just perform under all the pressure. but the reward most likely financial, has to be worth it.

[nervewrecker]

Which job you excel at? The IT guru, the financial guru or astral plane guru?

well is only 2 of those actually bring me any money, but IT definitely. there's no aspect of IT i cant cover in any organisation. and always provide a 'no complaints' tenure anywhere i work to my last day when i resign. in my experience however, when you join a job whether is a management position or technician position, because im naturally sharper and focussed on what im doing other employees think im trying to show them up. then you have to read your environment and decide whether u have to downplay your skill or leave the job. like, peer pressure to become inefficient.

sometimes is even management pressuring a subordinate to not be so efficient. so within our organisations, business owners really need to consider a proper approach to increasing efficiency within that culture of underachieving and peer pressure to inefficiency we have going on. one thing is for sure, you can never win if the employee is not happy with the arrangement. if they want to be inefficient you'll be like a dog chasing his tail trying to force them to increase productivity. so a way has to be found to make them want to increase their productivity for themselves.

but better yet. hire ppl who love and are passionate about what theyre applying for. the ones who dont care drag down the ones who do. a professional however will ignore all that and just perform under all the pressure. but the reward most likely financial, has to be worth it.

answer the question nah crackpot

[drchaos]

You know it's real funny. I see everyone posting that they acknowledge that poor work ethic is a problem we face, but no one says "Yes, I admit I really should really be working harder than I have." Where are all those people?

I should really work less lol! I work straight 8 hour shifts with nil lunch break (chronically short staffed).I have worked 15 extra sessions for the year that they have refused to pay me for and have sort of given up on trying to claim, and did I mention its a public sector job. I am quitting in a few month for a job that actually rewards me for the more time and effort that I put in.

[bluesclues]

Which job you excel at? The IT guru, the financial guru or astral plane guru?

well is only 2 of those actually bring me any money, but IT definitely. there's no aspect of IT i cant cover in any organisation. and always provide a 'no complaints' tenure anywhere i work to my last day when i resign. in my experience however, when you join a job whether is a management position or technician position, because im naturally sharper and focussed on what im doing other employees think im trying to show them up. then you have to read your environment and decide whether u have to downplay your skill or leave the job. like, peer pressure to become inefficient.

sometimes is even management pressuring a subordinate to not be so efficient. so within our organisations, business owners really need to consider a proper approach to increasing efficiency within that culture of underachieving and peer pressure to inefficiency we have going on. one thing is for sure, you can never win if the employee is not happy with the arrangement. if they want to be inefficient you'll be like a dog chasing his tail trying to force them to increase productivity. so a way has to be found to make them want to increase their productivity for themselves.

but better yet. hire ppl who love and are passionate about what theyre applying for. the ones who dont care drag down the ones who do. a professional however will ignore all that and just perform under all the pressure. but the reward most likely financial, has to be worth it.

answer the question nah crackpot

read the words after the first full stop.

[Miktay]

World Economic Forum says poor work ethic in Trinidad and Tobago is the biggest hurdle to doing business in this country.

Wonder if them fellas fm the Davos Economic Forum ever see this...


http://YouTube.com/watch?v=

[drchaos]

Work ethic problem solved! We all just need a good rhythm to work to and productivity will soar.
They should outlaw walking around the office, only chipping allowed.

[janfar]

The problem with our work ethics is that there is no repercussions for poor workmanship.

They need to setup a system which supports and promotes hard diligent workers and removes the poor ethics.

We all go meet that one screw up pan sufferer in the government offices ever so often. The ones who think they're untouchable. Even if we complain it falls on deaf ears. From time a person enters the country on business, the immigration officers sitting in the corner room and only 2 outside, the girls in duty free chatting about the Kardashians, the bags late cuz them fellas in the back talking bout the big bamsee gyul who wukkin rituals, the custom officers look like they have been working for 48hrs and the piece of paper you just handed them weighs a ton.

[Numb3r4]

It seems to me from the brief time I spent in the working world that the poor work ethic is institutionalized.

To try and change it now only results in the unions digging in and claiming victimization and that they will not be treated the same way that "private" enterprise treats its workers.