BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TODAY (Apr. 30), a wide cross-section of service providers have gathered at the Frigate Bay Beach Resort for a capacity building workshop to prepare them for export under the recently-established St. Kitts-Nevis Coalition of Services Industries (CSI).
The joint venture between the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the local CSI is the third of its kind in the region and is hoped to provide information to service providers, making them aware of export and network opportunities available through the Coalition.
At a brief press conference yesterday (Apr. 29), Head of the OECS Trade Policy Unit, Virginia Paul indicated that from discussions with the various representatives for coalitions across the region, there was a major concern regarding mobilising service providers. Assisting in capacity building, according to Paul, remains the focus for the OECS as the organisation wishes to offer specialised training to persons who are already exporting services as well as those who are prospective exporters.
“We want participants to go away with information that would have them better market themselves as service-providers. They would have access to information for better networking, set up their websites, prepare marketing and export plans in order become more competitive,” Paul told SKNVibes in an exclusive interview.
The OECS representative noted that the trade environment and cultural differences in other countries must first be understood, and stressed that an effective coalition would serve to achieve this while it works to negotiate with its respective government.
“The coalition would help by bringing service providers together so that they can lobby government to address issues that impact on the trading environment and they can also work together more closely,” Paul added.
According to the International Trade Consultant attached to the workshop, Doreen Conrad, the workshop should serve as an “eye opener” for service providers since the idea of a coalition of services industries is still relatively new in the region.
“Up until 10 years ago, such overarching associations which represent the interest of all services were only developed in developed economies. You have a lot of service providers but no one has ever banded together to help them export more. We are trying to raise awareness to show the business community that they too can export their services,” Conrad informed.
The Canadian-based consultant added that developing economies often place much emphasis on tourism, transportation and financial services, but noted that there is a need to give business and professional services more attention.
“Most people think of the big three - tourism, transportation and financial services - which are absolutely critical to particularly island economies, but there are the fastest growing areas of international trade...business and professional services. But, no one is paying attention to that.
“We are trying to put the spotlight on these other services that are fast growing and where there is completely untapped potential for these island economies,” Conrad added.
Over the last two months, workshops were held in St. Lucia and Dominica through the locally-established coalitions of services industries. The St. Kitts-Nevis CSI was launched late last year and has since been seeking to mobilise service providers to access trading opportunities outside the Federation.
