sub sectors – ship maintenance, ship building and maritime construction. Emanating from thisniche, we have identified investment opportunities such as small vessel ownership andmanagement, rig and offshore platform construction, logistical support services and ship buildingand repair services. We have also identified onshore operations investment opportunities, such asship inspection and certification, crewing agencies and services, shipping agents and shipchandlers and port management.Mr. Speaker the Government in the new fiscal year will introduce a Single Electronic Window(SEW) for Business Facilitation which will improve our international competitiveness by facilitatingelectronic trading and the transfer of information simultaneously thereby ensuring efficiency in thelocal trade and business facilitation process.The introduction of this Window will complement the already operational ASYCUDA system at theCustoms and Excise Division and will also improve the quality of trade data, facilitate services suchas electronic payments of duties which may be interfaced with the local commercial banks; andallow the Central Statistical Office (CSO) to generate trade data two weeks after the end of eachmonth. This system will also support business-to-business transactions which are vital for anytrade facilitation platform.This project will be implemented in collaboration with a Singaporean company through aMemorandum of Understanding on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Cooperationbetween this Government and the Government of Singapore. Implementation of this project willcommence in October 2009 and is expected to be operational by October 2010.Mr. Speaker, this project will give greater efficiency to our national business facilitation architectureas it will reengineer and simplify processes of Government agencies and departments involved inTrade and Business Facilitation. It will also complement the implementation of the Trinidad andTobago Revenue Authority (TTRA) and will provide a seamless platform for the trade community.

TOURISM

Mr. Speaker, as we continue our diversification thrust in keeping with our Vision 2020 NationalStrategic Plan, the Government’s approach to Tourism has been quite novel as we leverage ouremerging position as a financial centre with the traditional leisure options to extend our markets.We are fortunate to have three high quality products and experiences to market internationally,namely, Trinidad, Tobago and Trinidad and Tobago.Mr. Speaker, although this has been a challenging year for the tourism sector globally, Trinidadand Tobago has succeeded in maintaining its position as a preferred tourist destination and has agood story to tell. This performance was bolstered by the increased business tourist arrivalsgenerated by the hosting of the 5

Summit of the Americas Conference in April of this year whichput paid to any doubts of our ability to market destination Trinidad and Tobago to a full range ofclients.During the new fiscal year the Government will maintain this momentum in our quest to achieve asustainable tourism sector by increasing airlift and room stock; enhancing the tourism plant;implementing an aggressive campaign to expand the markets for business, leisure and domestictourism and by working with stakeholders in the sector to prevent the erosion of this destination’sCaribbean market share, as the strong competitive surge of response to these difficult neweconomic conditions by other Caribbean destinations become manifest.