THE TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce (TT Chamber) says it is ready and willing to steer the diverse services industry as major foreign exchange earner but strong policy and export promotion are needed.

Speaking at the Fit 4 Europe II programme at Kapok Hotel, St Clair, on September 10, TT Chamber president Vashti Guyadeen said the chamber has reached “a consensus” after working closely with several regional coalitions of service industries in the past six years.

The Fit 4 Europe II programme, managed by ExporTT, was created to help local companies with technical expertise and market strategies needed to succeed in exporting goods and services to the EU.

There is enormous potential for TT in information and computer technology (ICT), animation, and business and events tourism, Guyadeen noted.

"Worldwide spending on ICT was US$4.3 trillion in 2020, and the digital animation industry is forecast to reach US$391 million by 2022.

"As John Howkins highlighted in his book The Creative Economy: How People Make Money from Ideas, innovation and creativity are at the heart of the digital economy, which presents a prime opportunity for TT to harness the talents of its youth.

"Animation offers a borderless trade opportunity that is resilient, technology-driven, and youth-focused."

Guyadeen noted that the chamber represents 14 industries – all involved in services – and said they “must be prioritised.”

She said regional economists increasingly speak of the emergence of a “new economic order” in the post-covid19 economic landscape, which “underscores the urgency of organising and expanding our services sector.”

The services sector, she noted, accounted for over 85 per cent of the national labour force in 2017 and contributed 58 per cent to real gross domestic product in 2018. But in 2017, only eight per cent of export earnings came from services.

“This stark contrast reveals the enormous potential for growth in service exports, especially as advancements in information and communication technology have made it easier than ever to provide services to clients globally.

“Despite these opportunities, TT has yet to fully capitalise on expanding global market for services.”

She said the industry has been hindered by, among other things, a lack of policy.

“Crafting effective policies to expand services exports is challenging due to the lack of up-to-date, disaggregated data.

“Without a thorough understanding of the status of service exports, policymakers struggle to develop suitable strategies.”

She stressed that TT’s economic opportunities lie abroad, and said Jamaica provided a suitable example of successful diversification, bolstered by effective agents of the state.

“Over the past several decades, Jamaica has leveraged its natural beauty, culture, and strategic location to build a world-class tourism industry, which has become a cornerstone of its economy.”

She quoted Jamaica’s tourism minister Edmund Bartlett, who said recently, “our recent tourism data is a testament to our ongoing resilience