InvesTT confirms Chinese tenants for e TecK’s Phoenix Park Industrial Estate

InvesTT confirms Chinese tenants for e TecK’s Phoenix Park Industrial Estate

June 10th 2022 - Press Release

InvesTT announces the recent confirmation of two Chinese companies to tenant e TecK’s Phoenix Park Industrial Estate (PPIE), as construction of the facility draws near to completion.

Summit Luggage Co., Ltd. (Summit) and Docare Quanzhou Hygienic Product Company Ltd. (DoCare) signed their letters of offer with the Estate’s landlord e TecK at the end of May after months of prudent investment facilitation by InvesTT and the Estate’s contractor Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG). InvesTT and BCEG are working collaboratively with the Embassy of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Beijing to attract Chinese companies to establish operations at PPIE which is the first project in the Caribbean to be implemented under the Belt and Road Initiative. 

China/ LAC/ Panama 2019

InvesTT’s president, Sekou Alleyne, says “It’s a significant milestone for the team as we began promoting the Estate in September 2020 and have been working assiduously since then, barring the obstacles posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Both of these companies are large light industrial manufacturers which, when combined, have the potential to contribute to national economic growth by way of an estimated 220 local jobs and a total investment value of TT$90M. We are currently in negotiations with 2 more companies led by Chinese nationals in our foreign investment pipeline.”

Founded in 2001, Summit has over 20 years of bag manufacturing experience. It began with a small-scale factory and now it stands as one of the largest and leading luggage producers in China, with more than 1,200 employees. Up to 3 million luggage items and bags are produced in its 90,000 sq m plant every year and sold to more than 80 countries in the world. 

 

DoCare is a disposable hygiene care products manufacturer and supplier in China. It offers baby diapers, pull-ups, and wet wipes which are exported to over 120 countries and regions.

The tenants opted for the PPIE after weighing different options of industrial parks in Southeast Asia and Latin America. They cited the following factors which influenced their decision to locate in Trinidad and Tobago:

  1. Ideal location - T&T is closer to their specific consumer markets, more conducive to the expansion of business in the Americas and responds faster to market demand.
     
  2. Low Operational Costs –Trinidad and Tobago has the lowest electricity and natural gas cost in the region, giving tenants lower operational costs.
     
  3. Attractive incentives – The companies will be eligible to apply for fiscal and non-fiscal Government incentives, with the added attraction of accessing Special Economic Zone (SEZ) incentives upon full proclamation of the SEZ Act. 
     
  4. Governmental support – The construction and development of the Estate has been supported and facilitated greatly by the governments of both countries (T&T and the People’s Republic of 

This announcement comes alongside the confirmations of three local companies, including Ramps Logistics and Global Tobacco, who will also be expanding their operations to PPIE.

In December 2021, anchor tenant PriceSmart International unveiled its intention to invest TT$52 million at the Estate.

Situated on 538,000 sq.m. in Point Lisas and financed by Export-Import Bank of China, PPIE contains five factory shells each at 5,000 sq.m. It plays an important role in the country’s economic development and diversification efforts as it targets firms in the areas of high-value and light manufacturing. PPIE is ideally suited for businesses seeking to grow markets in the Americas and has the potential to become a new industrial cluster and an economic powerhouse in the region.

According to BCEG, the construction of the PPIE is slated to be completed towards early August 2022.

 

Read more about PPIE here