Tribute to an icon A Man of 'Good Ken and Commitment'
Tribute to an icon
A Man of 'Good Ken and Commitment'
IT WAS KEN VALLEY'S VISION and passion that led to the creation of PULSE, whose tagline read: Building Bridges in the Hemisphere. It was that same vision and passion that fuelled his energy and drive as Trade Minister to push for trade agreements with Latin America, seek to establish better shipping and air links with Spanish-speaking countries in the region, including getting BWIA to pioneer non-traditional air routes, and launch the "Spanish as the First Foreign Language" programme in Trinidad and Tobago.
Ken Valley leaves with us a vision worthy of pursuit - that of a bilingual nation and a bilingual region. In trade, business and regional negotiations, he wanted politicians and business executives to be able to speak directly to their counterparts in Spanish rather than through interpreters. He saw the ability to provide investors with a workforce able to communicate effectively and conduct business in the two dominant languages of this hemisphere as a critical competitive advantage, and a necessary prerequisite to T&T becoming the business, manufacturing and transshipment hub of the region.
In his own words, in the foreword to the 2nd and last edition of PULSE, he wrote: "Our vision is for one seamless region where there is more emphasis on market responses than to government fiats, while recognising the need of the socially disadvantaged... However, the region can only be truly seamless when we can travel unfettered by restrictions, mainly self-imposed by our inability to speak each other's language. While progress is being made on this front, and there is some increase in the numbers of professionals and entrepreneurs who can communicate in at least one other language, we are still very far from reaching the ideal. It is our expectation that initiatives such as PULSE will aid in the assimilation of language and culture in the region."
Mr Valley, who held a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of the West Indies and an MBA from McMaster University in Canada, entered politics in 1986 as an Opposition Senator for the People's National Movement (PNM) before winning and taking up the seat for Diego Martin Central as a Member of Parliament in 1990. He left a successful career as an insurance executive to enter politics full-time. While he is best remembered for his service as Minister of Trade & Industry and Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives, Mr Valley also served as Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Minister of Local Government. He left politics in 2007 and, at the time of his passing on May 6th 2011, he was Executive Chairman of his own consultancy firm, KCV Consulting Services Ltd.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in a radio interview said of Ken Valley: I remember him through our years, in and out of Parliament and politics, as being frank and fearless, mindful of his personal and professional integrity but in the long run always overwhelmingly concerned with the well-being of his fellow-citizens... His colleagues describe him appropriately as being a man of "good ken and commitment."
In a statement in Parliament on May 13th, she also said: "We in this Parliament will continue to hear the echo of his strong and anxious voice as he made his statements, or exchanged picong with those of us on the opposite side, or tried to banter with the Chair, or met with us privately to resolve some matter of Parliamentary procedure. What Ken Valley showed us was the warm personification of the sometimes cold principles of the Westminster tradition: that you battled with all your might here in the Chamber, on behalf of your Party and Constituency, but in the rooms of retreat and the corridors of collaboration, you fought with all your mind on behalf of our Nation and our better selves. Many were such times that Ken Valley showed us his might and his mind."
The Trinidad & Tobago Manufacturers' Association said in a statement: "Trinidad and Tobago's trade and business environment, and by extension the TTMA, experienced tremendous growth and development under his leadership and guidance as Minister, and his commitment to strengthening trade and investment opportunities between Trinidad and Tobago and emerging markets within and beyond the Caribbean region was evident by the legislation which he championed and the policies he implemented.
“Mr Valley was a strong proponent for the diversification of the economy away from the oil and gas sectors and made great strides in presenting the case for the growth of secondary sectors to the government of the day.
The TTMA enjoyed a very engaging and dynamic relationship with Mr Valley, who was very open and willing to meet with the Association and intervene where necessary to address critical issues and inefficiencies which affected our members."
The Trinidad & Tobago Coalition of Services Industries (TTCSI) stated: "Mr Valley was the line Minister who oversaw the creation of the TTCSI. He was an ardent proponent of economic diversification, recognising the critical role of services in economic development. He was a great proponent of T&T deepening its trading ties with Latin America, recognising the region's growth potential as well as T&T's advantages of proximity and similar culture. His stint as Minister of Trade and Industry from 2001 to 2007 has left an indelible imprint on the business industry not only in Trinidad and Tobago but also regionally."
A statement from the CARICOM Secretariat said: "During the course of his political career, Mr Valley made significant contributions to the regional trade agenda in his capacity as Ministerial Spokesperson for Bilateral Trade Agreements, as well as the representative of Trinidad and Tobago on the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED). Mr Valley was also instrumental in the crafting of his country's CARICOM Trade Support Programme, which provided interest?free loans to non?Trinidad and Tobago CARICOM enterprises with a view to lifting their level of performance and international competitiveness. His contribution has helped to determine the regional trade agenda and his drive and verve have certainly assisted in propelling that agenda, which has yielded and continues to yield tangible results."
Speaking at the launch of PULSE in November 2009, Ansa McAl's Group Chief Operating Officer Gerry Brooks said: "Mr Valley has always had a genuine passion for Latin America and the Caribbean. His has been a career of dedication to the cause and business of expanding our trade footprint to create commercial and investment opportunities hemispherically and globally. This philosophy and passion can be found in the CARICOM/Dominican Republic and CARICOM/Costa Rica Trade Agreements negotiated during his tenure as Minister of Trade and Industry. It is for this reason that his leadership in this area is exemplary and his DNA is reflected in the many bilateral and multilateral agreements to be found throughout Caricom. Though he is no longer in the public eye, PULSE magazine is but another public manifestation of his vision and passion in expanding Trinidad and Tobago's commercial architecture beyond CARICOM and into Latin America."
Richard Lewis, Publisher, Who's Who in Trinidad & Tobago Business and Director of Label House, said: "Whenever people asked me if I knew Ken Valley, my simple answer always was: 'Yes, he is a good friend of mine.'
“This businessman turned politician never gave up trying to get the manufacturers to export not only within the region but extra-regionally. He even took the ultimate gamble of expanding routes of our national airline to meet the requirements of the FTAA for which the ultimate price would appear to have been the location of the FTAA Headquarters in Port of Spain, but really was meant to be more markets with Duty Free Access for the Trinidad and Tobago manufacturers. I must say that his love for expanded trade barriers, especially Latin America, never waned and his last two years were spent entirely in that quest.
“I will remember (as my TTMA past presidents will all do) the great times we shared on export trade missions where he was the team leader."
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