By Paras Ramoutar

Port-of-Spain, Feb 9(IANS) Trinidad and Tobago wants Indian, Chinese and Brazilian investment in its on-shore and off-shore energy development.

Finance Minister Winston Dookeran told an international energy conference here that Trinidad and Tobago's promotional effort for new investment in the on-shore and off-shore development must now expand our global reach to include Indian,Chinese and Brazilian investment prospects.

"As such, a new era of economic diplomacy will now inform our efforts to vigorously seek investment to support the new direction in our development strategy," adding that no longer must we view the energy sector as,"a privileged enclave of a few but, indeed, we must move to the democatization of this sector in search of opportunities to finance new economic space in our quest for inclusive development."

Dookeran said that Trinidad and Tobago's new frontier industrialization strategy is being constructed in several ways.

"Re-invigorate seismic research to identify potential resources of hydrocarbon as we seek to expand private seismic data to an open data room and set the basis for renewed exploration in the hydrocarbon sector," he said.

Dookeran added: "The new fire storm in Egypt must indeed be occupying the minds of world leaders of countries trading in oil and gas as we do here. These global imbalances are indeed, a reflection of the changing political order and small countries like ours must be prepared to anticipate and, as far as possible, develop policy actions to protect our economy and the well-being of our people."