Port of Spain a shopping and business centre for much of the country. Most government offices are also located in the city and many important government services can only be accessed in the Ministry offices located downtown. Within recent years, local banks headquartered here have helped it become a financial centre for the Caribbean and Central America region. Two of the largest banks in the Caribbean, Republic Bank, Trinidad and Tobago Limited and Royal Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT, reacquired by the Royal Bank in 2008) are headquartered here or base their Caribbean operations in the city. Trinidad's economy is based on
Projects of the Caribbean Community the Tenth European Development Fund (10th EDF) CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and Economic Integration Programme (EIP). At the opening ceremony of the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) Caribbean Ministerial Forum on ICT in Port-of-Spain on 7 August 2013 it was announced by CTU President Phillip Paulwell that Digicel has agreed to abolish roaming charges for users of the company's networks when they travel in the region from 1 October. “After some negotiation, Digicel has agreed as of October 1, 2013, on the abolition of voice roaming on Digicel's network in Caricom countries. Each travelling subscriber will be treated as