The Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCIC) Message 2025-2026

When business speaks, it must be heard, and in 2024, the Chaguanas Chamber of Commerce made sure it was. Under my leadership, the Chamber became a leading voice on two issues affecting every business and resident in our borough: traffic congestion and crime. These issues, if not properly dealt with, severely affect business.

We’ve made Chaguanas’ voice impossible to ignore, speaking up on traffic, crime, and business issues that matter most, while driving our business community toward a safer, stronger, and more prosperous future.

We didn’t just talk, we acted. We met with law enforcement and government officials, proposed workable solutions, and kept the conversation alive until it reached the national stage. From prime-time news interviews to front-page headlines, our advocacy earned significant media coverage, amplifying the concerns of our members and making Chaguanas’ voice impossible to ignore.

Chaguanas remains the commercial heartbeat of Trinidad, our shops, offices, factories, and markets powering the national economy. But behind the numbers are people, the entrepreneurs who take risks, the innovators pushing boundaries, and the community leaders inspiring the next generation. This is the true story of our success.

For the Chamber, celebrating success means more than looking back; it’s about preparing for what’s next. The future demands that we embrace change, adopt new technologies, and champion sustainable, forward-thinking business practices, especially with the exponential growth of artificial intelligence (AI). It also calls for expanding trade and investment, both locally and across borders, to position Chaguanas as a hub of opportunity for the entire Caribbean.

The challenges ahead are real. But so is our determination. Together, we are building a future where business thrives, communities feel safe, and innovation is part of our DNA.

As we step into this next chapter, the Chamber will continue to lead with vision, speak with authority, and act with purpose, ensuring that Chaguanas not only celebrates success but sets the standard for it and rewards and recognises excellence.ous reality of the war looms large.

For a long time, businesses in T&T viewed themselves as immune and far removed from global shocks and pressures. However, a new day has dawned where political and economic instability (in developed nations that contribute heavily to providing major inputs) has far-reaching consequences in other parts of the world.

As we proceed along the second half of 2022 and look to 2023, businesses will not only have to be adaptable and agile to survive, they have to be antifragile. According to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, “Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same; antifragile gets better.”

Leaders cannot continue to do business as usual. Their decisions must be strategic and this means from procurement to capital budgeting, everything must be evaluated with rising inflationary pressures and supply chain disruptions at the top of mind.

This is also why digitization and the need for innovation can no longer be a luxury in T&T. It is a necessity. Embracing digitization not only allowed companies to lower their rental costs for physical space, but also enabled access to a wider market across the country and region.

You can innovate or wait until things go back to normal. Unfortunately, there were many businesses during the pandemic that were inflexible and did not want to adapt to the pace of change. Some of which had to close their doors permanently.

In sum, the businesses could not have imagined that Covid-19 would have caused so much disruption. Nevertheless, those who anticipated and adapted won. In the marketplace from 2022 to 2023, the companies that become antifragile will survive this period while the rest of the business world will be equipped to deal with a trade environment that no longer exists.

17 Cumberbatch Street
Chaguanas, Trinidad
Tel: (868) 671-2242, 272-2242
Email: [email protected]
Website: ccictt.org