A twin-island state located off the Venezuelan coast, Trinidad and Tobago is a high-income country with an economy driven by natural gas and petro-chemical exports and well-developed industrial and financial sectors. Trinidad and Tobago is one of the most developed nations in the Caribbean, and has the second highest per capita income in the region. However, social indicators lag behind economic growth and there are substantial pockets of poverty.
The 11th European Development Fund (EDF) foresees €9.7 million to increase the competitiveness and diversification of the country's economy in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner. To this effect, it aims at strengthening the countries' innovation policy and respective institutional capacity.
EU's assistance allocated €25.9 million for Trinidad and Tobago during 2008-2013. With the aim to diversify the economy, EU cooperation activities focused on boosting the country's non-energy industrial and service sectors, in particular by encouraging closer university-industry cooperation, providing assistance to small and micro sized enterprises, and stimulating export-oriented activities. In addition, the EU supported sustainable growth, conservation of biodiversity, and mitigation measures to the impact of Climate Change on a small island state. The EU further supported the mitigation of the environmental impact from the extraction of resources with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
Trinidad and Tobago is also a beneficiary of the EU’s Accompanying Measures for Sugar Protocol Countries. Under the AMS, Trinidad and Tobago has received a total of €75 million over the period 2007-2013. EU support aimed at mitigating the socio-economic and environmental impact of the Government's decision to divest from the sugar industry. Support was provided for the diversification away from sugar and into other value-added agricultural production and downstream activities and to reduce the social, economic and environmental impacts of the restructuring process.
As a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Forum of the Caribbean Group of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM), Trinidad and Tobago benefits from regional programmes funded under the Caribbean Regional Indicative Programmes.
The country is also a signatory of the EU-Caribbean Partnership Agreement (EPA), a comprehensive free trade agreement with a strong focus on development cooperation.