New
TTCIC president, spreads his mind-set gospel
By
Roxanne Stapleton
Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
05 06 07
His
is the gospel of mind-set change -a concrete
way forward for Trinidad and Tobago.
Newly installed president of the Trinidad and
Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Ian Collier
presented his new mind-set plan of attack last
week, which he said could contribute to oiling
the wheels of the Trinidad and Tobago development
and transformation vehicle.
Collier served as the senior VP of the Chamber
since April 2006 and became a director in 2004.
He is the managing director of advertising and
communications firm, Collier Morrison Belgrave
(CMB) and prior to this post, he spent 12 years
as the MD of Collier Advertising and Production
Services with offices in Denver Colorado and Florida
in the US.
He is a graduate of Queen's University of Kingston
Ontario, Canada and holds an honours degree in
Commerce. He also attended Presentation College,
San Fernando.
Collier was also president of the Advertising
Agencies Association of Trinidad and Tobago for
four consecutive years and president of the Rotary
Club of Port of Spain in 2001 and 2002.
He is a director at both Servol and the Trinidad
and Tobago Film Company.
Collier in laying out his mandate, quoted Doug
Larson that some of the world's greatest feats
were accomplished by people not smart enough to
know they were impossible.
"Fortunately or unfortunately... you are
looking at one of those not-so-smart people, because
as a confirmed optimist, who chooses positive over
negative, solutions over problems, excellence over
mediocrity, action and performance over ole talk
and dialogue over confrontation, I have always
believed that once the right mind-set is in place,
nothing is impossible," Collier purported.
He
insisted that the local economy will "be
unable" to realise its fullest potential,
without substantial and sustained amounts of direct
foreign investment, state-of-the-art ports and
infrastructure, comprehensive and technologically
advanced diversification, a properly educated and
globally competitive work-force, a crime free environment,
channeled creativity and entrepreneurship and a
burning desire to participate and succeed-heralding
again, the new mind-set.
His plan includes lobbying to fast-track both
the Central Statistical Office upgrade and seven
identified non-energy sector industries, identifying
an eight non-energy sector industry unique to this
country for development.
Formation
of an "elite outside of the Board
dream team of cutting edge minds" to study
and make recommendations on projects such as the
Heritage and Stabilisation Fund, streamlining government
bureaucracy, initially focusing on procurement
and regulatory procedures and to ascertain the
feasibility of the proposed international financial
centre.
And
zooming in on the Chamber itself, he pointed
to its "upgrade and expansion into a cutting
edge resource", as a means to providing significantly
enhanced relevance and inclusion.
"If
you had asked the citizens of Singapore back
in the early 60s, if their economy and thereby
country would be at first world status by the 90s,
they would have laughed at you.
"But
Singapore changed. And as a country of some 4.5
million people on a minute 270 square
mile piece of rock, or three-and-a-half times more
people on six and a half times less land area than
us, Singapore did just that, with no other resource
than location and people.
"It
might interest you to know that over half of
Singapore's increase in per capita gross
GDP over the past 45 years has been attributed
to labour productivity, such that on a gross GDP
per capita income basis, Singapore has now become
one of the top 20 wealthiest countries in the world.
"And
with foreign exchange reserves in excess of US$137
billion, tiny Singapore today plays a
leadership role in the world -mind-set!"
Collier also cited significant economic turnaround
feats in Dubai, China, India and Ireland.
Trinidad
Express
Wednesday, May 2nd 2007
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©2007 Trinidad Express. All Rights Reserved.
