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St. Lucia "Doing Business with Canada"

Contact: Julita Peter

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 - St. Lucia recently hosted a seminar dubbed “Doing Business with Canada” that targeted companies primarily involved in agro-processing and the production of alcoholic beverages. The seminar was organized by the OECS High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, in collaboration with the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Agriculture, and Industry, and is expected to result in trade missions to Canada and the OECS by importers and exporters from both countries. Consultants of the Trade Facilitation Office in Canada facilitated the exercise, which was funded by the Caribbean Development Bank.

President of the Chamber of Commerce, Brian Lousy says “We see the promotion of exports as a critical component of our work in facilitating the development and expansion of the business community in St. Lucia. The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce has also made it quite clear that we are committed towards strengthening integration within the OECS and therefore we see our mandate as having to facilitate and encourage OECS integration, and having this regional seminar we think it testimony to that.”

Two-way merchandise trading between Canada and the OECS has grown considerably over the years resulting in over EC$500 million in Canadian export, and EC$972 million in import from the region in 2000. However the Canadian High Commissioner to Barbados and the OECS, Sandelle Scrinshaw, warns that even in light of this there is no room for complacency. “As trading nations we know our well-being depends to a great extent on our economic prosperity, and that in turn depends on our ability to produce quality goods and services to compete internationally,” said Scrinshaw.

Ms. Scrimshaw has promised to provide technical support in developing the region’s human resource, particular in the area of education and health in order to enable it to meet future challenges.

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