caribbean country is currently on the oecd “ gray ” or “ black ” list of non - cooperative jurisdictions. now, the caribbean region has to cope with fatca. quite rightfully, the caribbean community ( caricom ), an organization of 15 caribbean nations and which coordinates economic policy in the region, is taking the lead on fatca. caricom has created a task force led by jamaica and has hired the accounting firm of pricewaterhousecoopers to advise on the best approach for the region on the issue. the region ’ s strategic approach to fatca will be on the agenda of the upcoming caricom central bank governors meeting to be held in suriname in mid - november 2012. bis central bankers ’ speeches apart from using the joint regional machinery of the caricom secretariat to advance their collective interests in fatca, i would also encourage caribbean countries to build alliances with other jurisdictions in the americas that are equally affected by fatca. in particular, i note that the ttsec, which is the third representative of the inter - american regional committee ( iarc ), is in a unique position to make representations on behalf of the caribbean to the international organisation of securities commission ( iosco ). i encourage the ttsec to use this avenue to highlight fatca implementation issues that are of particular concern to the caribbean region or to members within the region. as i indicated before, no one country can do this alone. now is the time for caribbean countries to put their case before influential and potential allies in the g - 20 such as brazil and canada, which together represent the caribbean region on the executive boards of the imf and the world bank. i believe that now is also time for the caribbean to develop a different engagement model with china. china recently joined the global forum to maintain its interests in mainland china, hong kong and macao. as a vice president of the global forum, china may prove to be an invaluable ally to the caribbean on implementation of standards of transparency and international tax matters, instead of being viewed solely as a non - traditional provider of aid resources to the region. trinidad and tobago – preparedness for fatca ladies and gentlemen, i now turn to trinidad and tobago ’ s readiness for fatca. i wish to state quite categorically that trinidad and tobago is not a tax haven. trinidad and tobago is recognized by competent institutions such as the imf, the world bank and the financial action task force ( fatf ) as

ewart s williams : coping with the international financial crisis address by mr ewart s williams, governor of the central bank of trinidad and tobago, at the grenada chamber of industry & commerce 20th annual banquet and awards ceremony, st george, grenada, 22 november 2008. * * * salutations : the honourable tillman thomas – prime minister the honourable nazim burke & mrs. burke – minister of finance mr. george harford – director mrs. yvonne gellineau - simon – president mr. richard duncan – managing director i am pleased to have this opportunity to address you at your twentieth annual banquet and awards ceremony. let me congratulate the grenada chamber of commerce firstly for your longevity ( surviving since 1921 is an enormous achievement ) and for your service to grenada in general, and the private sector of grenada, in particular. from time to time, policymakers in the caribbean tend to take the private sector for granted, or rather fail to capitalize on the enormous advantages that could derive from close private - public sector collaboration. large countries with large markets could depend on the forces of the market mechanism, although as recently seen in the us, in times of crisis, markets cease to work properly, whereupon close collaboration between public and private sector becomes not optional but the only prescription for survival. small countries, like grenada, need to exploit the synergies inherent in a close private - public sector partnership and institutions like the chamber of commerce need to be at the centre of this partnership, for the good of the economic development and survival of the country. i am sure that you would agree with me that the last few months have seen unprecedented events as regards geopolitics and the world economy. even his ardent critics will concede that the election of barack obama as president of the united states was nothing short of momentous. here is someone who four years ago was a little - known first term senator, but who was able to organize a crusade and kindle such passion to become the first africanamerican president of the u. s... for many, that ’ s pretty close to a miracle. and for many, the events that are continuing to unfold in the global economy are no less momentous and even less explicable. the very respected alan greenspan, the former chairman of the us federal reserve, described the recent meltdown in global financial markets as a veritable tsunami. us treasury secretary henry paulson, who is now trying to bring some order to