Trinidad to Create Entertainment Company

Oil and gas-rich Trinidad will launch its own entertainment company in an effort to diversify its economy, a government minister said Thursday.

Trade Minister Kenneth Valley said the government has earmarked $5.3 million (€4.1 million) for the Trinidad and Tobago Entertainment Co. for the next three years. The company will give loans and grants to artists and offer classes on music, video production, marketing and touring, he said.

“We´re known around the world for calypso and steel drums, but we´re also the home of soca and chutney,” said Valley, referring to Trinidad´s two styles of dance music laced with Caribbean and East Indian rhythms. “We are going to use our musical talents to earn foreign exchange.”

Valley said the plan is part of a larger strategy that Trinidad, one of the wealthiest countries in the Caribbean, has been working on for two years to diversify the economy. It has already begun to develop other non-energy sectors like food processing, manufacturing and shipping.

Located seven miles off the coast of Venezuela, Trinidad relies on oil and gas for more than 25 percent of its gross domestic product.

Trinidad is not the first country to try and cash in on its culture. Brazil, famous for hip-shaking samba and bossa nova, rolled out a government plan two years ago under its cultural minister and internationally known musician, Gilberto Gil, to develop music and art as a means of revitalizing the economy.