YACHTING INDUSTRY RUNS AGROUND

THE yachting and marine industry, which was proposed in 2009 for diversification of the economy, is in its worst state in decades.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert has also hyped the industry in successive Budget addresses as a plank for diversification.

Fewer and fewer yachts are utilising the Chaguaramas marina for repairs, on-land boarding services, and mooring.

In 2009, then-Prime Minister Patrick Manning said the industry had the capacity to stimulate shipbuilding and repairs.

“It represents a new direction that is labour-intensive and has the potential of creating a new industry that can make a significant contribution to economic activity in our country,” Manning stated.

He told of plans to expand the sector, adding: “It will also reduce our dependence on the energy sector.”

Manning was voted out of office a year later, and there was marginal growth in successive years, but a major slump in recent times.

Industry sources say that less than one-tenth of yachts are docking at Chaguaramas in the north-western peninsula compared to two decades ago.

Financial returns are a fraction of previous earnings.

The Yacht Services Association has expressed concern about the decline in arrivals, in addition to reduced Government funding for the industry, piracy, and other nagging issues.

The processing of customs and immigration documents is still done on paper and is said to be a frustratingly slow process for foreign yachties.

Other Caribbean destinations have digitalised the procedure.

The association wants the Government to recognise “the true value of the yachting industry as a US income earner,” along with the potential for “immediate employment for skilled and non-skilled workers.”

The group is also advocating for marketing of the industry.

The marine facility – which accommodates both local power boats and foreign yachts – is the only major sheltered Caribbean harbour outside of the hurricane.

Several service companies are involved in the sector, but employment has declined in recent years.

The once-bustling district now has a stray dog problem.

In his 2017 Budget, Imbert removed Value Added Tax on foreign yacht services.

The Government later bought CL Financial’s CL Marine, which the minister promoted as part of the administration’s diversification thrust.

The Ministry of Trade has said that special economic zones would be used to bolster the marine industry, along with other sectors.

The Government has also promoted the industry internationally as being prime for investments.

“We possess many strategic advantages to make investment opportunities feasible and fruitful for foreign investors,” Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon said in an advertorial in an international publication.

Over the years, Imbert has pledged to diversify the economy by strengthening the creative, finance, services, agro-processing, printing, food and beverage, and other sectors.

In a 2008 address, Manning said: “The Government has identified, as part of its diversification effort, seven new industries on which we will rely for diversification.”

Imbert has labelled his 2024 fiscal package “Building Capacity for Diversification and Growth.”

None of the projected sectors has kicked off, and the yachting industry has run aground, declining instead of expanding.