December 13, 2016: Speaking at the Golden Anniversary of the National Flour Mills Limited (NFM), Dinner and Awards Ceremony on December 12, Senator the Honourable Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry said ‘fifty years is a milestone in the life of any company and the NFM has demonstrated its commitment and diligence over the last five decades to being one of the most trusted food and feed manufacturers in the region’. She added that ‘the journey of NFM has clearly been a partnership between the Government and the private sector. The organization is now recognized as a leading manufacturer in flour milling, rice packaging, animal feed and pet food, and dry mix operations’.
In delivering her Feature Address, the Minister said that throughout the past 50 years, NFM has experienced peaks and troughs and owes its changed fortunes to the resourcefulness of the Board, management and staff who epitomize the resilience and strength of the company. She commended the current and previous Chief Executive Officers and other officials who have significantly contributed to the establishment of a strong foundation that has served as the platform for the NFM to emerge as a commercially viable enterprise. She highlighted that the company has been able to develop a robust distribution network and an aggressive export drive that has facilitated the penetration of its products into markets such as Belize, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Canada and the United States of America. Minister Gopee-Scoon stated that ‘the manufacturing sector remains a priority for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago as you may recently have heard articulated by Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Keith Rowley, it is the second largest non-petroleum sub-sector in our economy, accounting for approximately 7.8 per cent of real Gross Domestic Product’.
Minister Gopee-Scoon affirmed that ‘the Ministry of Trade and Industry, is committed to assisting manufacturers with accessing non-traditional markets through Government to Government arrangements, trade facilitation and promotional visits. Furthermore, the Ministry is dedicated to continuing dialogue with all stakeholders in the manufacturing, commercial and industrial sectors to address challenges related to trade and competitiveness’. The Trade Minister congratulated the staff, executives and awardees of NFM on the work they are doing. She said ‘the Ministry is confident that NFM is on course towards penetrating foreign markets given that it has embarked on projects geared towards upgrading its plant operations, new product development, modernizing research and development facilities, achieving safe quality food certification and improving employee welfare’.
Mr. Kelvin Mahabir, Chief Executive Officer, National Flour Mills Limited, in his remarks expressed his unconditional thanks to the staff members of NFM. He said, ‘NFM could not have reached this far without our devoted Staff members, who go above and beyond to ensure that the job is done.’
Mr. Nigel Romano, Chairman, National Flour Mills Limited in his remarks noted that, ‘2016 was filled with challenges, but we have worked together to overcome most of them. NFM is blessed to be staffed with committed and responsible individuals; Tough times don’t last but tough people do and we will continue to work together as a team to excel in 2017.’
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For further information please contact:
The Corporate Communications Unit
Ministry of Trade and Industry
868-623-2931