Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: It the best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new talk radio Freedom 106.5.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: Hi, good morning to you and to your listeners.
My name is Axel Kravatsky. I'm the president of the European Business Chamber in Trinidad and Tobago, Eurochamp TT.
And tomorrow we are celebrating for the second year the winners of the Sustainability Champion awards. So these are companies in Trinidad and Tobago that are championing sustainability and who have distinguished themselves in doing so. And that is one of the things that we will be celebrating tomorrow together with the United nations, in partnership with the United nations.
And I can speak more about Eurocham, but I'll let my colleague Mark Thomas also introduce himself.
[00:01:01] Speaker C: Tell us about yourself.
[00:01:02] Speaker D: Good morning. Good morning Satish and good morning to your listeners. I am Mark Thomas. I'm the partnerships and development finance officer at the United nations in port of Spain.
One of my responsibilities is trying to engage the private sector to adopt more sustainable business practices from the perspective that it's for the good of everyone, but also from the perspective that being more sustainable will have very concrete business benefits in the long term and even in the short term in some instances. And we're very happy to be partnering with Eurochamp on the Sustainability Champion awards.
[00:01:43] Speaker C: Let's educate our listeners on exactly what Eurochamp is.
[00:01:51] Speaker B: So Eurochamp is the chamber of European Business in Trinidad and Tobago.
We have members that are large and we have small organizations as well, small and medium organizations, local Trinidad and Tobago based organizations that have links with Europe, and we have european companies that are investing in Trinidad and Tobago. And together we're working to diversify the economy to increase investments in Trinidad and Tobago, to increase exports from Trinidad and Tobago, and to make Trinidad and Tobago more sustainable. We believe that sustainability is the key driving force that enables the economy to grow and for new investments to be made in Trinidad and Tobago, and for sustainably produced products from Trinidad and Tobago to be exported, for example, to Europe and thereby earning foreign exchange.
[00:02:51] Speaker C: Just remind me again, how long has Eurocham been in Trinidad and Tobago operating?
[00:02:57] Speaker B: Eleven years now.
[00:02:58] Speaker C: That's a significant period of time.
Just to get a bit more information, what are some of the things that Yorocham has been able to achieve in this time frame?
[00:03:09] Speaker B: So we work in three main areas. So we are working in one area, we are working on advocacy. So here we're helping all the members are working together in order to achieve a better business and investment environment in Trinidad and Tobago. And that means, for example, from customs to adherence to international agreements, and to make Trinity and Tobago more transparent, easy to do business with so that organizations can invest in it. And for that, we're making budget recommendations. We're meeting with ministries, we're meeting with all stakeholders in order to move forward.
[00:03:50] Speaker C: On that second element.
[00:03:53] Speaker B: Go ahead.
[00:03:53] Speaker C: No, go ahead. You go ahead. Yeah.
[00:03:55] Speaker B: No, the second branch, the second leg that we are standing on has to do with trade facilitation and investment facilitation. So we are supporting companies that would like to invest in and Tobago, and we are supporting companies that would like to export to Europe. And we're working here to gain access to organizations, to help make connections for organizations and for them to increase the inflow of foreign exchange and to increase the gaining of foreign exchange through export.
[00:04:30] Speaker C: Yeah, I know that in the business community there are certain phrases and so on, ideologies that might be commonplace and that persons would fully understand them. But for persons on the outside, not necessarily the case. Sustainability.
Mr. Thomas, tell us.
It may seem straightforward and self explanatory to some, but what is sustainability and how does it work and why is it so important?
[00:04:59] Speaker D: Okay, well, I suppose you can tell from my accents, that accent, that I'm a Trinidadian. And as a trained begonian working for the UN, my vision and the vision of all Trinidadians and to begonians living in this country is that this country can become the best place to live and the best place to do business. All right? So that together we will have a more peaceful, prosperous and just society. Now, in terms of thinking of a more peaceful, prosperous and just society, is that really possible without sustainability? And I'll just give you a few aspects of sustainability.
Can we become the best place to live and to do business if we don't address poverty, or if health care is poor, or if the quality of our infrastructure is poor, or if we're not prepared for natural disasters, we don't take care of our biodiversity, we lose our beautiful forests and all our beautiful poo trees.
So sustainability is really about all of the things that will make us have this more peaceful, prosperous and just future.
And I'll leave it at that, just in case you have another question.
[00:06:23] Speaker C: Yeah, well, it seems very much intertwined into what people are doing, what they should be doing, and some of the things that we should know more about when it comes to sustainability and everything else but persons listening into us, this is really interesting. I'd like to get more involved. How can persons do that?
[00:06:43] Speaker D: Well, I think I read a study recently that said that the average person makes between 2030, 5000 choices a day. Right. Some of the choices are very simple. Like, I'm going to put on my right sock before I put on my left sock. But we all make choices that affect both our lives, the lives of others, the whole society, right?
What do we eat? What are we having for lunch today? Are we going to eat local produce as opposed to, like, imported produce? This country imports more than 80% of its food.
When we leave the room, do we leave the light on or do we leave the AC running when we leave the house? Energy security and energy efficiency, and eventually climate change.
Do we take public transport every time we go out, or do we drive, even though it's like a walking distance? So everyone, through the choices that they make, can have an impact on these things. And importantly, in an impending election year, what do we ask all leaders to do on our behalf? We live in a democracy. We choose all leaders. And these things, do we even pay attention to these things when we're making our decisions about voting? So that's just one thing.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: Bringing it up about the education and the awareness, rather, and the sensitization to some of these issues. We have a long way to go.
There are people who are doing human service, and they're really pushing some of these agendas within their circles and hoping that it gets out to the wider community and that as a nation, we're more aware of some of these nuances and how they impact on us moving forward. Dr. Kravitsky, tell us about some of the initiatives that Eurocham has been involved in as part of the thrust to highlight sustainability and the importance of sustainability.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: Thank you. So, for the last ten years, we have been advocating for climate change. We have been involved in beach cleanups, and all our member companies are doing many very worthy initiatives.
Over the last two years now, we have been focusing specifically on the development of three related initiatives to really accelerate the movement.
And the first one is the awards. So here we want to celebrate and recognize those companies in Trinidad and Tobago that have already put in place the policies, the structures and the systems to identify, to measure, to assess, and to disclose to the public what they are doing in relation to sustainability.
And more specifically also about the environmental, social and governance dimension, the ESG that many people are talking about now. So recognizing excellence and recognizing commitment in that domain, that's one topic. And we will be announcing the winners of this year's competition tomorrow. The second element we started last year, which is a training arm. So on the one hand, we recognize, on the other hand, we support.
And so this is giving companies a very practical way in which to contribute to the achievement of the sustainable development goals within Trinidad and Tobago so that they can make measurable differences in this domain and move forward at a greater pace and make a bigger difference. And the third element will be launched later this year, which is bringing together investors and companies in order to accelerate collective action together and specific investments in specific industries. So these are the three main branches, the three main legs that our sustainability initiative is composed of.
[00:10:51] Speaker C: Yeah, we're almost out of time for our interview already. It's amazing how quickly the time flew by. But let's get to some of the nitty gritty, some of the award schemes for this year's sustainability champions awards. Who are some of the people, some of the sponsors and so on. Tell us about it.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: Right. So we are fortunate to have really a lot of organizations, a lot of people supporting us, because it is important to many. So within this, of course, the UN is our main big partner. And this year we have been joined also by Paho and who, and the second element, which is sponsors. So, for example, our training workshop last year was sponsored by Massey Motors, and they continue to do that. And we have been also received a lot of support from the EU delegation, from the European Union delegation, particularly his Excellency, the ambassador, Peter Cavendish. And ministries, particularly Ministry of Planning and Development, as well as trade and industry, are very important and are aligned with what we're doing. The media has been very supportive, like you are, for example.
And then there are all the companies that have been involved in actually assessing their own practices and participating in the award scheme, not only once, but many of these are doing it over because the process itself is also an educational one to see all the aspects of what it is involved. And thirdly, and finally, we also have an independent assessor panel for the awards composed of the University of the West Indies UE, the UN and Eurocham members. So together, it's a lot of people working towards a common goal. And the goal is to identify and celebrate an overall champion within the large company category and an overall champion within the small and medium enterprise category. And we will announce the winners of these tomorrow.
[00:13:17] Speaker C: How does someone or business entity or enterprise organization qualify for something like this? Do they need to be part of Eurocharm or do you go out and search based on criteria? How does it.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Well, you know, everything is on. It is open. You do not have to be a member of Eurochamp. We welcome members, everybody who has these objectives, we welcome them as members, but you do not have to be members. It's an inclusive, engaging process that is very transparent. The criteria are on the website. You can download the document everybody can submit.
This year, of course, is already closed, but we will have it next year again. And we encourage people to participate and to look at our website, eurochamt.org. Org. And yeah, that's.
[00:14:21] Speaker C: Gentlemen, that's basically where we end our interview here this morning. I know that freedom. We're going to be with you all at the awards tomorrow, and we'll be broadcasting that for our listeners and probably have some other interviews and more discussion about it today into tomorrow as well. But I want to thank both of you for being with us here this morning and giving us an insight into this very, very valuable topic, this issue that more of us need to be more aware of and do our part to ensure that we achieve the goals and the targets that we set out to. I want to thank you both once again for being with us here this morning and giving us that information.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: The best inside it, instant feedback, accountability. The all new talk radio Freedom 106.5.
