Good evening.
I am delighted to be here with you this evening, at the Chamber’s Annual Christmas Dinner and Awards Ceremony. How fitting it is, that, in the season of peace, joy and goodwill to all mankind, we have gathered to connect, to celebrate and to rejoice in the achievements of our fellow citizens. And so, let me begin by suggesting that the timing of this evening’s event could not possibly have been better.
Permit me also to say what a wonderful thing it is to be recognised and to be honoured by one’s peers. This evening, we have the pleasure of witnessing two individuals and three organisations who are being recognised and honoured by their peers – individuals and organisations who, in the view of the Chamber, have worked extremely hard, excelled in their respective fields, and contributed meaningfully to the wider society. I add my own personal congratulations to this evening’s awardees, for having earned the recognition and the honour of their peers.
I am particularly pleased that part of the reason that tonight’s awardees are being recognised and honoured, is for their contribution to the wider society. I am particularly pleased about this because it seems to me that, at this juncture in our country’s history, the call to serve the wider society is louder than ever. Here, again, I pause to observe that, in choosing, at this particular period, to honour persons who have, among other things, contributed meaningfully to the wider society, the Chamber’s timing also could not possibly have been better.
There can be no doubt that the business community has always played a part in serving the wider society. That, I believe, is a truth that is universally acknowledged.
One of the more fundamental ways in which businesses serve the wider society is in fulfilling society’s basic needs and wants, by producing a wide array of goods and services for use by others. Businesses enhance our quality of life by providing essential items such as food, clothing, housing, healthcare, and entertainment. Businesses also provide employment in the communities in which they operate – which has all sorts of positive, knock-on effects, including reducing the community’s unemployment rate, increasing personal disposable income within the community and lifting the living standards of the community in general. Perhaps less appreciated, but no less important, is the contribution that businesses make to the wider society by continuously striving to develop new products and new services, driving technological advancements as they do so. The cellular phone and instant-messaging platforms are just some examples of how business innovation has served the wider community, by fostering efficiency and improving the speed and the quality of our communications. Businesses contribute to the development of communities in even more direct ways: they invest in local infrastructure, support local initiatives, and participate in community-related social causes. Businesses also encourage entrepreneurship and empowerment at the individual level – they encourage and they reward individuals who pursue their dreams and take calculated risks to establish innovative ventures that, in turn, create value, jobs, and economic growth.
I don’t think I need say more about why and how it is that the business community plays a part in serving the wider society – I know that I am speaking to a receptive audience where these things are concerned. But I do want to speak with you this evening about a further, and, as it turns out, a critical need in our society that I believe the business community is especially equipped to meet. The need of which I am speaking is the need for citizens to serve on the wide range of boards, commissions and tribunals that have been established by Parliament and other authorities, to perform regulatory or similar functions. As I am beginning to discover, it is not always easy for a President to find the required number of persons, with the required skills and experience, to serve in those capacities, on occasions when a President is required by law to make such appointments. I acknowledge and I thank the business community, most sincerely, for all that it has done, and continues to do, to answer the call to serve the wider society. But, as the saying goes: “To whom much is given, much is expected”. And this evening, I would like to invite the business community to contemplate adding even further to all that it has done for Trinidad and Tobago in the way of social and economic development, by giving serious consideration to encouraging even more of its members than currently do so, to serve in these capacities as well. Serving in these capacities is very much a means of serving the wider society. And, at this juncture in our country’s development, I believe that it is a critically important means of national service.
Believe you me – I understand only too well the challenges of serving in these capacities. Those who do so expose themselves to the risk of being criticised, often unfairly, by the very public whom they serve. As members of that very public, we might sometimes seem to such persons, like ungrateful children in this regard. But, like good parents do, persons who answer this particular call to serve the greater good, bear it all – with love and with patience. In some cases, service such as I am making a case for this evening, brings with it the obligation to avoid engaging in other activities that we might love (in order to preserve the appearance of impartiality). In other cases, such service brings with it the burden of having to abide by certain regulations which can seem onerous and that might feel quite invasive. But, I suppose that, at the end of it all, it is also a truth, universally acknowledged, that no service is easy. On one view of the world, if service were easy, it would not be called ‘service’ in the first place.
I do appreciate that what I am calling upon members of the business community to do, in addition to all that they already do, is not easy. But I suggest, respectfully, that service of the kind for which I am advocating this evening, really involves no greater exertion and no greater risk than that for which the business community is already deservedly renowned. By virtue of your experience as businessmen and businesswomen, your members are, I believe, uniquely poised to answer the call to do even more, with the same finite resources. In a very real sense, that is what you do every day of your lives. You find ways to use the finite resources you have, in order to add greater and greater value; and you take whatever finite resources are available and find a way to use, and to stretch them, for the good of the community. That, I am suggesting, is precisely the task involved in national service of the kind for which I am advocating.
And so, even as we gather this evening to celebrate this year’s awardees, and even as we thank them – and all of the members of the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce – for their sacrificial service to the wider society, mine is the sober responsibility, as President, to lay upon your shoulders the call to even further national service by becoming members of the public bodies that I have described. I thank you all in advance, for continuing to answer the call to such service, and for doing so in even greater numbers than you are currently doing.
In addition to placing this further burden upon your shoulders – and at the risk of un-inviting myself to next year’s function, in advance, by having done so – I wish to make an even further plea to you this evening. That is the plea to act on environment, social, and governance issues – the ‘ESG issues’ as they are called – not only because the modern market-players are emotionally invested in them, but also because, at this juncture in our country’s history, it is simply the right thing to do. I make this plea because it does not fall far from my plea to give national service by becoming members of the public bodies that I have described. In fact, both pleas are, I believe, firmly grounded in the same bedrock of social responsibility. I believe that the environment, social, and governance issues, are all matters that impact directly on the wider society.
Where the environment is concerned, I was delighted to see that the National Council of Indian Culture chose, as the theme for this year’s Divali Nagar celebration, the theme of ‘Dharti Mata’ or “Mother Earth”. What a wonderful and an inspired reminder this is of the need for all of us to respect and preserve our planet. Today – and rightly so – consumers are looking for truly environmentally responsible organisations — and that insistence, in turn, is driving businesses to respond and adapt to ensure that they carry out their operations in environmentally respectful and responsible ways. One of the world’s leading financial-consultancy firms offers what I think is sound advice to businesses on the actions that businesses can take to address ESG issues. These include baking ESG initiatives into your strategy; getting your data right; choosing your companions wisely; telling your story; and being innovative.
Where ‘baking ESG initiatives into your strategy is concerned’, the advice is to define your ESG priorities with associated objectives, time-bound targets and key performance indicators to evaluate performance. Where ‘getting your data right’ is concerned, the advice includes getting the right information for ESG strategies by collaborating across your business ecosystems to simplify data collection, synthesis, and reporting. Where ‘choosing your companions wisely’ is concerned, the advice is to enter into third-party relationships with organisations and suppliers who are also ESG-driven. Where ‘telling your story is concerned”, the advice includes communicating your ESG vision clearly to win consumer support. And, finally, where “being innovative” is concerned the advice is to lower carbon emissions by adopting new technologies.
All of this advice, coming as it does from one of the world’s leading financial-consultancy firms, is no doubt very sound advice. But, what occurs to me, is that many of your members are already doing these things, and are already well along the path of ESG advancement. Your very celebration here this evening of individuals and persons who, among other things, have contributed meaningfully to the wider society, is the clearest indication possible that the Chamber understands that what lies at the core of ESG, is service to the wider community. ESG, it seems to me, is already, and has long been, a part of the Chamber’s DNA.
My call this evening has been to increase even further your participation and to expand even more your sphere of influence, in the contributions that your membership makes to the wider society in two (2) specific areas – areas which at first might seem un-related, but which, for the reasons I have given, I would argue are manifestations of the same commitment to wider social responsibility. The first is to encourage even more of your members than currently do so, to serve on the public bodies that I have described. And the second is to encourage even more of your members than currently do so, to pursue aggressively, initiatives in the area of environment, social, and governance issues. Together, these constitute my ‘Christmas Wish List’ to the Chamber. If I am lucky, perhaps next year I will be able to speak to you about how happy the business community of Couva and Point Lisas made me on Christmas morning.
And so, having made my pleas, let me end as I began – by returning to those whom we have gathered to honour this evening. And, before I close, let me say something to each of them, individually. To our star cricketer Jayden and President’s medal winner Makaya—my sincere congratulations. Continue to reach for the stars and inspire other young people to strive to achieve their highest potential. To Asequith Engineering & Contracting Ltd and Novo Farms – I encourage you to continue your ESG-driven pursuit of innovation, business excellence and sustainable development. And to Hunters Search and Rescue Team—may you continue your courageous and valiant efforts to comfort and inspire families across the nation.
I thank you all for your efforts to not only better yourselves, but also your community and country. It is my fervent hope that your success and recognition will now serve to inspire other people to follow your commendable lead. Rest assured that your country is exceedingly proud of you.
In closing, let me say how proud this evening’s celebration makes me to be a Trinbagonian – I am immensely proud to see the result of the creativity, innovation and pioneering spirit that resides so abundantly within our people. I congratulate this evening’s awardees once more and extend sincere congratulations to the Couva/Point Lisas Chamber of Commerce for the accomplishments and achievements of the past year. I wish you continued success, growth and progress as you do your part in promoting and empowering business in Trinidad and Tobago and in helping to make this country a place of economic prosperity and development.
I hope it is not too early to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a bright and prosperous New Year. I do so with a full and grateful heart.
Thank you.
