WHEN Roger Roach became a member of the TTMA board in 2013, he didn’t have an intention of becoming its president, he simply came to contribute and to serve.
But when he was elected president in April 2023, he knew he was part of an organisation which has become one of the most influential voices representing the business community.
During Roach’s two-year tenure as president he has championed TTMA’s commitment to advancing the manufacturing sector, fostering innovation and creating new opportunities.
From policy advocacy to strategic partnerships and industry development initiatives, Roach was at the helm of a list of TTMA’s achievements that made the manufacturing industry one of the fastest growing, non-energy sectors in the country.
Two years of growth
Roach told Business Day that when he was elected, Trinidad and Tobago was just getting over the covid19 hurdle.
"We had set ourselves a goal in 2020 to double our manufacturing exports by 2025. Covid19 put a spoke in that wheel."
In 2023, the TTMA was seeking to accelerate their goal.
"One of the things we asked ourselves was how do we get businesses to go out and seek new export markets."
He said the TTMA realised that some businesses, especially the SMEs, did not have the institutional strength to go after markets.
"For example, they most likely did not have an export department led by a competent professional, someone in the company to do market research and analytics, to see which markets to go into first. Therefore to bridge that gap we made the decision to accelerate our thrust through trade missions."
As a result, the TTMA hosted 12 trade missions over Roach’s two-year tenure.
"That’s an average of one trade mission every other month. We have taken many SMEs and some large companies who want to expand their exports into new markets. During that period we went to extra-regional markets, which is, we took 50 people to Ghana. Last year we went to Canada."
The trade missions helped 251 companies in total, leading to exports of about 62 containers within the first six months of each mission.
[caption id="attachment_1148732" align="alignnone" width="1024"] TTMA leads a delegation on its cruise ship trade mission. -[/caption]
The TTMA’s 2024 annual report showed that revenue earned from the trade missions almost doubled between 2022 and 2024.
In 2022, the TTMA hosted three trade missions to Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica, with 75 participants.
As a result, 23 containers were exported with a value of US$700,000.
In 2023, 126 companies participated in trade missions to Grenada, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname, St Lucia and Antigua to Barbuda and as a result, 33 containers were exported, resulting in revenues of US $1.2 million.
In 2024, 124 companies participated in trade missions to Belize, The Bahamas, Ghana, Canada, Suriname and St Vincent and the Grenadines, resulting in 29 containers being exported for a revenue of US$1.3 million.
Trade missions were not the only activity in which the TTMA was involved.
The TTMA c
