Trinidad and Tobago to reopen borders to citizens

Photo: Caribbean National WeeklyTrinidad and Tobago will reopen its borders today with conditionality based on legal residency and vaccination status.

Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley announced in late July that citizens and legal residents, vaccinated or not, will be allowed to enter Trinidad and Tobago with a mandatory 14-day quarantine period for unvaccinated individuals—unvaccinated non-nationals will not be allowed entry at this time.

Roughly one-third of intra-Caribbean migrants live in Trinidad and Tobago, with many Trinidad and Tobago oil and gas workers imported from China and OPEC countries. Reopening its borders will finally allow the flow of human capital to resume into and out of the country and many Trinbagonians stranded overseas during the pandemic will be able to return home.

Alleviating staffing shortages in the oil and gas sector, and attracting foreign workers in general, is crucial for the country’s economic recovery and plan to diversify into sectors such as tourism. Before the pandemic, Trinidad and Tobago tried to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons and towards tourism but the border lockdown cut this transition short. Expect Dr. Rowley to accelerate the border opening to tourists to reinvigorate the industry. Also expect aggressive vaccination programs to fully vaccinate the Trinbagonian population.

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