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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1200  GMT) 14 SEPTEMBER 2005  
 
PRESS/TPRB/251 
14 September 2005 
 
(05-3960) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 
Strong growth but achieving am bitious goals requires further 
reforms 
Since its last review in 1998, trade has played a crucial role in supporting Trinidad and Tobago’s 
rapid economic growth. The country’s rich natural endowments, its attractiveness as an investment destination and favorable developments in world markets, specially in the 
hydrocarbons sector, have produced a strong increase in GDP growth and per capita income, 
according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Trinidad and Tobago.  
The report notes that further reform and implementation efforts in areas such as 
telecommunications, port administration and financial services are crucial for Trinidad an Tobago to achieve its ambitious objectives of becoming a knowledge-based economy an a regional 
economic hub.  
 The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, will be 
the basis for the second Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Trinidad an Tobago by the Trade Policy 
Review Body of the WTO on 14 and 16 of September 2005.  
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp251.htm  
 
• Secretariat report 
> Contents and summary observations  > Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  
> Trade policies and practices by measure  > Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Government report  
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). 
 PRESS/TPRB/251 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
 
Next reviews: 
Tunisia : 5 and 7 October 2005 
Guinea : 12 and 14 October 2005 
Bolivia : 1 and 3 November 2005 
 
For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews 
 
  
END