Wednesday, November 4 – A team of officials from the Export Development Unit of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will be in the Territory next week for a brainstorming/planning meeting with local designers.
The meeting is part of a series being held in the various members states of the OECS with the objective of establishing an OECS Design Network.
The Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs which is undertaking local coordination, is encouraging designers in the Territory to participate in the November 9 meeting at Maria’s By the Sea. The meeting begins at 8:30 a.m.
Director of Trade and Consumer Affairs Ms. Lizette George said to facilitate the creation of the regional body, OECS member states are expected to establish National Designers Network. “The objectives, as outlined by Export Development Unit are to identify designers in the OECS; establish national designers’ networks in all OECS member states and discuss the potential challenges facing design development in the sub-region,” Ms. George told the Department of Information and Public Relations.
“In addition to discussing the creation of the OECS Design Network and identifying representatives to serve on this body, one of the objectives of the brainstorming meetings is to get suggestions on how to create linkages between designers and furniture and craft producers,” she stated.
The design network will be open to designers from a variety of disciplines including product, industrial, interior, fashion, jewellery, graphic and packaging, website and architecture among others.
Encouraging designers to attend Monday’s meeting Ms. George said “The OECS Design Network will present significant potential for local designers and their counterparts throughout the OECS in terms of networking and increasing market access. It is important that designers take advantage of this opportunity and maximise the benefits to be derived. There is strength in unity and we are all too aware of the many challenges facing the global economy today, making it even more difficult for designers to survive independently.”
Similar meetings have already been held in Anguilla and Dominica. The OECS export development officials will also meet with designers in Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and St. Lucia ahead of the meeting in the BVI. Meetings are also scheduled for St. Kitts/Nevis, Antigua/Barbuda and Montserrat next week.
Designers interested in attending the meeting and being part of the local design network should contact the Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs at 494-2701 extension 2008. The department is located on the second floor of the Sebastian Building on Admin Drive, opposite Banco Popular.
The initiative of the OECS Export Development Unit in collaboration with Caribbean Export envisions the establishment of national design networks in all OECS member states as part of efforts to enhance the creation of high-end products in the OECS sub-region.
The Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs is mandated to facilitate the development and growth of the BVI business environment, increase competitiveness and generate higher levels of sustainable growth and productivity.
British Virgin Islands News