MEDIA RELEASE
04/08/2025

In an era defined by disruption and rapid change, the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago (AMCHAM T&T) is reaffirming its commitment to strengthening business resilience through its latest strategic session: “Why Business Continuity Is Non-Negotiable.”

The webinar featured renowned regional expert Mr. José Ignacio Quirós, Director at CEPA (Centro Especializado de Prevención de Accidentes), who delivered powerful insights on Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and its indispensable role in today’s volatile business environment. With more than 20 years of experience working with both public and private sector entities, Quirós has helped numerous micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) develop robust continuity strategies to prepare for and respond to disasters and operational disruptions. He is also a collaborator with ARISE Panama, actively contributing to regional efforts aligned with the United Nations’ goals for disaster risk reduction.

Hosted by AMCHAM T&T’s Trade and Investment Committee, the session explored real-world case studies, best-practice strategies, and critical tools to help businesses anticipate, respond to, and recover from crisis. Attendees gained valuable insights into how proactive planning can protect operations, ensure employee safety, and maintain a competitive edge amidst disruption.

In his feature presentation, Mr. Quirós says business continuity needs to be treated as a strategy for survival and long-term success for small and medium enterprises. “Building a culture of continuity means making sure everybody, from leadership to frontline staff, understands their role in keeping the business running all the time,” Quirós said. “Training, communication, and inclusion are key in this subject matter. Together, these four elements: risk identification, protective measures, having a written, tested, and maintained continuity plan, and building a culture, are the key elements that we need to focus on in our operations.”

Mr. Quirós emphasized that resilience must be everybody's job, “It's not just about managers or IT departments or operations. Every team member has a role to play, whether it is knowing how to respond to a system outage, safeguarding physical documents, helping a colleague evacuate safely, making contact with the customers, their awareness and actions matter.”

“When the whole team is engaged, your continuity plan becomes a living part of your operation, not just a document on a shelf,” Quirós said. “That's why resilience becomes sustainable, and that's why we need sustainable companies.”

Meanwhile, AMCHAM T&T also emphasized that Business Continuity Planning is especially vital for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which often face the greatest vulnerabilities. The chamber believes that building future-ready enterprises is an urgent priority for both economic recovery and long-term sustainability.

“At AMCHAM T&T, we are committed to strengthening the private sector’s capacity to navigate complexity,” said Melissa Pierre, Senior Trade and Policy Specialist of AMCHAM T&T, while delivering the Opening Remarks. “We want to ensure that all businesses – especially MSMEs – are equipped with the knowledge and tools to anticipate, respond to, and recover from disruption. It’s how we build a more resilient private sector, and by extension, a more resilient country.

Pierre acknowledges that building future-ready enterprises isn’t just smart, it’s urgent, and collaboration is key to success. “Resilience is a team sport. Collaboration across sectors, industries, and borders is how we support each other to build stronger foundations, share best practices, and prepare for what’s ahead.”

The Chamber expressed its deep appreciation to Mr. Quirós for his valuable contributions, as well as to the Chair of the Trade and Investment Committee, Mr. Marc Persaud, for his leadership and continued support.

As AMCHAM T&T continues to prioritize risk awareness and organizational preparedness, this session marked a critical step toward fostering a more collaborative, crisis-ready, and resilient business community in Trinidad and Tobago.

END.

For further questions or comments, please contact: Nirad Tewarie, CEO AMCHAM T&T at niradtewarie@amchamtt.com.