The Value Chain Investment Programme (VCIP) is a landmark initiative that began in July 2016 when the Trinidad and Tobago Fashion Company Limited (FashionTT) convened a three-member international panel to interview twenty-one designers in Trinidad and Tobago. Each candidate was scored based on their responses to a series of questions related to the fifteen VCIP criteria.

FashionTT, in partnership with NEDCO, conducted training in Brand Development in January 2020 in a classroom and then, thereafter, during the "Stay Home, Stay Safe" period, conducted virtual training in Contract Law, Business Plan Development, Costing and Pricing, Record Keeping and Cash Flow Management, Business Taxation and Marketing Strategy every Saturday from March to May 2020. Since the training, the designers have been better equipped to progress into their aspiring fashion professions in any of the categories of the fashion business value chain. This training also strengthened these companies' capability to communicate and build relationships with Suppliers, Buyers, Customers and Financial Institutions.

On Saturday 21^st November 2020, the Trinidad & Tobago Fashion Company (FashionTT) held its very first Drive Through Graduation Ceremony for the sixty-five (65) designers who successfully completed the training. This event was held in the carpark of UTT's John S. Donaldson Port-of-Spain Campus. These designers represented Cohort 3 of the Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP), a tier of FashionTT's flagship VCIP.

Azizah Mohammed, 2019 UTT graduate and winner of Most Promising Designer Award receives her certificate from Minister of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Development Senator, the Honourable Paula Gopee-Scoon

From Left to right: Minister of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Development, Senator the Honourable Paula Gopee-Scoon flanked by (l-r) Sandra Carr, CAFD's Programme Leader, Jason Lindsay, FashionTT's Chairman, Lisa Marie Daniel, FashionTT's GM, graduate, and Representatives from Nedco

Many fashion alumni of The Caribbean Academy of Fashion and Design (CAFD) at UTT were among the lists of graduates.

Jason Lindsay, Chairman of FashionTT, remarked: "We're in an era now that calls for us to build more innovative business models and we're hoping that, with the expertise gained from this programme, the designers would be able to build more effective businesses to help the fashion industry grow and become more sustainable in 2020 and beyond."

Minister of Trade and Industry and Enterprise Development Senator the Honourable Paula Gopee-Scoon, along with FashionTT's Chairman Jason Lindsay, FashionTT's General Manager Lisa-Marie Daniel and CAFD's Programme Leader, Sandra Carr congratulated the VCIP graduating designers.