Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim says he believes that Trinidad and Tobago, with its hydrocarbon resources and financial prowess, could be a ‘pivot’ or ‘growth zone catalyst’ for the development of an integrated strategy for CARICOM.

Speaking at the 2nd International Conference 2015 of the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago he says with this country being the axis, one triangle could be formed with natural resource endowed countries such as Guyana, Suriname and Jamaica and another with service-oriented countries such as Barbados and the OECS.

Karim says in so doing, CARICOM would be strengthened to establish market niches in emerging economic powers such as China and India.

He says a critical enabler proposed for the region’s integrated development strategy, is to increase the number of persons trained at the tertiary level and to further retain the required skills for development.

The Minister notes that this country is now expected to improve its rankings on several international benchmarks in the area of tertiary education participation.

Loop News Service