Trinidad & Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago stands out in the Caribbean and the Americas as a comparatively wealthy, hydrocarbons-based economy with rich and diverse cultural traditions and a robust democratic system. The twin-island country has a population of 1.35m people and a per capita GDP that places the country among the wealthiest in the Americas, behind the US and Canada, and ahead of most Caribbean and...

Featuring a viewpoint with Mark Laquis, Managing Partner, Pollonais, Blanc, de la Bastide & Jacelon, on the financial services regulatory framework, this chapter provides an overview of T&T’s legal framework, covering a range of topics from intellectual property rights to labour laws and immigration, among others.

This chapter provides an overview of T&T’s tax regime, covering areas of particular interest to investors such as corporate and individual income tax, value-added and Customs tax, as well as tax exemptions, among other aspects. In addition, it features a viewpoint with Angela Lee Loy, Chairman, Aegis Business Solutions, on the tax incentives supporting economic diversification.

The agricultural sector accounts for a tiny portion of T&T’s overall economy. It contributed an estimated 0.5% of GDP in 2014, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, while agricultural exports contributed just 0.01% of GDP. In labour terms, the sector accounted for 3.5% of total employment in 2013, or some 22,000 jobs, according to the central bank. While this is largely...

Buoyed by revenues from the oil and gas industry, education is one of T&T’s strengths. In its “Global Competitiveness Report 2014-15”, the World Economic Forum ranked T&T 44th for the general quality of its education system, 43rd for primary education, 35th for maths and science, and 33rd for its management schools, out of 144 countries. Unsurprisingly, the government has made...