News Releases

UWI, IDB and Atlantic team up: More business opportunities for Pt Fortin

For Release Upon Receipt - September 10, 2012

St. Augustine


More business opportunities for Point Fortin and the surrounding communities is one of the goals of a US$1.8 million project currently underway that is being executed by The University of the West Indies (UWI) through its Trade and Economic Development Unit (TEDU).

At a signing ceremony on Thursday 23rd August, 2012, at the Office of the Principal of the St. Augustine Campus, the project was formally established between The UWI and its partners, Atlantic LNG, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Point Fortin Borough Corporation.

What started as an Atlantic initiative to promote social and economic development in the six communities of La Brea, Chatham, Buenos Ayres, Cedros, Icacos and Point Fortin, became a collaborative effort since 2010, with IDB financing of US$775,000 and Atlantic providing counterpart resources in the amount of US$1,100,000  over three years.

Referring to it as the LED project (Localized Economic Development), Dr David Rampersad said, “This project is a significant indication of the ability of The University of the West Indies to bring its expertise to bear in meeting national needs. Dr. Roger Hosein and the Trade and Economic Development Unit have considerable experience in undertaking research in development and their findings will therefore have an important influence on the response of all major developmental partners in the south-western peninsula.”

Campus Principal, Professor Clement Sankat thanked the IDB and Atlantic LNG representatives for supporting such a developmental project which will serve as a pilot for the region, and welcomed the collaboration between corporate citizens and The University.  He said that in light of depleting oil and gas reserves this project is timely, as it can create opportunities in the non energy sector. He noted that countries such as Korea had experienced development through its human resource and that Trinidad and Tobago can have similar results.

The country representative from the IDB, Michelle Cross-Fenty, emphasized the Bank’s commitment to this partnership and its capacity for achieving sustainable development in the non energy sector, as she remarked that this is the first application of an LED strategy in the English-speaking Caribbean. 

Atlantic’s representative, Marlon Grant noted that this project will help to achieve what it had set out to do since the inception of the company regarding creating a sustainable economic dynamic in Point Fortin and the wider Southwest peninsula.

Also at the signing, were Vashtie Dookiesingh, Senior Specialist MIF, Kavita Maharaj, IDB, Roger Hosein, Coordinator of TEDU, and Aisha Guytan, of TEDU.

For further information, please contact the Office of Research Development and Knowledge Transfer at 662-2002 ext.82483, 645-2500, or via e-mail at development@sta.uwi.edu.

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

Contact

  • Office of Research Development and Knowledge Transfer

  • Tel.: (868) 662-2002 ext.82483, 645-2500
  • Email: development@sta.uwi.edu