ST. KITTS—Chairman of the St. Kitts and Nevis Coalition of Services Industry, Alfred Harley left for Antigua this week to attend a Regional Symposium on Services, convened by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, which will be held at the Grand Royal Antigua Beach Resort from Wednesday July 15th to Friday July 18th.

The Symposium is being organized under the distinct patronage of Antigua Prime Minister the Honorable Baldwin Spencer who is also Lead Head for the Antigua Government with responsibility for Services in CARICOM.
  Harley has also been asked by the CARICOM Secretary General to Chair a special committee that will discuss Services in Telecommunication in the Caribbean region. 

Harley said the keynote speaker for the three day Symposium will be Prime Minister Spence in his capacity as Lead Head with responsibility for Services in CARICOM.

He said the objectives of the Symposium are to sensitize key stakeholders in the sector on how to capitalize on the region’s comparative advantage in the area of Services for export and for the increased development of the Community, to develop a Draft Plan of Action for the period 2009-2014; and to agree on the elements of the Services component of the Regional Strategic Plan for Development within the context of the CSME. 

Harley said, “This is a very aggressive move by CARICOM to spearhead such a workshop, as it puts Services in the region at the forefront where it ought to be considering the shift in many islands in the region to have Tourism as a main Economic Pillar.” He said, “The simple fact is that these Caribbean islands will have to compete for airlifts, and cruise passenger visits, and the key factor that will affect return visits will be Service levels, and if your particular islands service level was not up to par then it would undoubtedly suffer dire economic consequences.

He said it was not surprising that a main topic of discussion was Tourism and noted that this would be a very important discussion for St. Kitts and Nevis. Speaking on the future of Tourism in the Federation Harley said, continued infrastructural development, new programs to educate the population on the role they must play in developing the islands Tourism product, and ensuring that our carrying capacity was carefully studied, will be necessary components for making St. Kitts and Nevis a top regional Tourism destination. 

According to Harley, on day one of the Symposium the attendees will deal with two topics relating to Single Market and Economy, namely the Treaty Framework for Services in the CARICOM Single market and Economy and Single Development Vision and Regional Strategic Plan for Development.

On day two the discussion will shift to Trade and Development Linkages with special presentation on Strategies for Development of the Service Sector to Engage in the Liberalized International Economy UNCTAD, the Service Agreement under the EPA (CRNM), and the Role of the National Coalition in the Development of the Services Sector.

On day three the discussion will again shift, this time to Regional Challenges and Opportunities Confronting Trade and Development in Services with special emphasis on Tourism, Transport Services such as Air, Maritime, Road and Riverine Transport. 

Added to the list is a discussion on the Financial Services Sector, banking, insurance and Securities at the end of which the group hopes to reach a consensus on a way forward.