A scan of Trinidad and Tobago's tourism promotional materials reveals why vacationers flock to the country (site of the 1999 Miss Universe Pageant) for discovery, relaxation and romance. But corporate investors are fairly rushing to Trinidad and Tobago too, which now boasts the highest per-capita foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Indeed, Trinidad and Tobago's investment opportunities have never been greater. Foreign direct investment is at record levels, fueled by robust expansion in the energy sector. New energy projects worth an estimated US$447 million were announced in 1998 alone.

"If only 50 percent of [proposed energy-related projects] actually comes to pass, you're going to be seeing a Singapore in the Western Hemisphere," predicts Krishna Persad, a leading Trinidadian oil and gas industry consultant. In one of its biggest victories ever, Trinidad and Tobago beat out several strong competitors for Atlantic LNG's $1 billion liquefied natural gas plant -- reportedly the single largest industrial investment ever in the Caribbean. The plant recently opened near Point Fortin, on Trinidad's west coast.

Although Trinidad and Tobago's economy was heavily dependent on oil production for many years, it's much more diversified today. New initiatives are under way to attract information technology and other growth industries (see sidebar article). But companies in all sectors are being attracted by perhaps the country's most powerful location magnet: its outstanding business climate.

Warm Business Climate

While some Caribbean countries' investment environment is unpredictable at best, Trinidad and Tobago's business climate stands in stark contrast. It's as warm as the country's tropical sunshine and blue ocean waters. In fact, a recent Institutional Investor magazine global survey of banking executives names Trinidad and Tobago as the Caribbean region's most secure investment location.

"We offer investors a stable environment," Saith says. "We have a history of doing what we say." Adds NGC's Manager of Gas Resources Management Arnold DeFour: "The sanctity of contracts is very important to multinational firms, and it's one of the things that makes Trinidad attractive." NGC, in fact, is still working from contracts that date from the country's independence in 1962. Those contracts have not been tinkered with or renegotiated, despite several changes of government since then.

"There are no exchange controls here," reports Trevor Baldeo, manager of investment promotion for the Tourism and Industrial Development Co. of Trinidad and Tobago (TIDCO). "Investors can bring money in and bring it out again. And foreign firms can own 100 percent of a company."

A number of competitive financial incentives programs are available to assist investors in establishing new facilities (see sidebar article).

Yet another big asset is the country's skilled work force, renowned for its cooperative spirit. Trinidad and Tobago offers "a stable industrial relations climate and a reservoir of skilled manpower which can be harnessed to attain the most demanding standards of performance consistent with the requirements for global competitiveness," Prime Minister Basdeo Panday says. Moreover, labor costs in Trinidad and Tobago are extremely competitive.

Perhaps nothing is more valuable to a potential investor in evaluating location alternatives than the experiences of existing corporate citizens. Those firms' executives know what the labor force is really like. They understand clearly if the government is cooperative or not. They know whether their investment has been a good one or not, and they know if they're making money.

To give readers an on-the-ground sense of what it's like to do business in Trinidad and Tobago, Site Selection interviewed top managers in a wide range of existing companies. Although there have been a few bumps along the road in some cases, the executives' stories paint a decidedly positive picture. Each lauds the country's overall inviting investment climate, governmental cooperation and future potential.