2 weeks Ago
In the midst of the ongoing controversy over foreign exchange, Trinidad and Tobago’s animation sector has generated over US$1 million in revenue over the last three years. This was revealed last Wednesday by deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry Ava Mahabir-Dass at the launch of the 2024 Anime Caribe Festival. As with all financial statistics from Government officials, the devil is in the details.
That US$1 million figure has to be measured against subsidies and grants given by Government to organisations and individuals involved in animation. If that figure exceeds TT$6.7 million, then the forex generated is still a net loss.
In 2024, the Trinidad and Tobago Creative Industries Company Limited was allocated $5.4 million; in 2025, its allocation is zero, according to the Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure. Out of the $2.
9 million provided in 2024 to the Culture and Creative Arts Fund, according to the Social Sector Investment Programme (SSIP) 2025, the bulk was given to local performing arts groups, which generate little or no foreign exchange. Filmmakers got no more than $100,000 out of the fund. Nonetheless, US$300,000-plus per annum is still a noteworthy number.
While it is a mere coin drop in the forex bucket, this revenue was generated by the minuscule number of individuals working in the local animation industry. Mahabir-Dass noted that the global animation industry was now worth US$379.8 billion.
It is the Internet that has mainly allowed local animators to access this market. The fact that T&T animators can compete in this global market, some getting work with film giants like Disney and Netflix, shows the high level of talent and creativity in our country. However, talent and creativity are not enough to fulfil local potential.
The Government must also make it easy for citizens to connect to the international gig economy. Many people, such as writers and artists, cannot use certain major platforms that connect clients and freelancers because T&T is not among the countries on the platforms’ list. Usually, that is because T&T does not allow transactions in US currency.
Is this the fault of the banks or because of regulations imposed by the Government? Either way, the Government must examine this problem as part of a wider programme to increase the ease of doing business in T&T. Even if each individual earns relatively small sums in US dollars and other internationally accepted currencies, the more people who can do so, the greater the country’s overall forex inflows. Additionally, persons who are already making a living from international gigs are beginning to leave T&T, in part because of this same difficulty in transferring their earnings.
As remote workers, they can live anywhere. This new form of brain drain would only accelerate unless the Government takes action. That oil and gas revenues will continue to decline is a given.
The Government must facilitate other avenues to earn forex before shortfalls become chronic, not through grants and subsidies, but by removing bureaucratic barriers to talent..
