OECS Secretariat, Castries St. Lucia: Senior officials from the OECS Secretariat and its Export Development Unit (EDU), recently concluded talks in Barbados, towards mobilizing donor resources for implementation of support programs for the private sector in the sub-region. 

The team from the OECS Secretariat held discussions with officials of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) a key partner of the OECS Secretariat in the execution of programs for export development in the OECS. That meeting saw a review of work plans and an assessment of ways to co-ordinate action for effective utilization of available funds under the European Union funded 9th EDF Project for Private Sector Competitiveness. That project targets action to promote competitiveness for OECS enterprises. Fruitful discussions were held with officials of the European Union during which a full briefing was provided on the implementation of specific programs by the OECS Export Development Unit. There were frank discussions of the constraints which have hampered the full impact of these programs on their beneficiaries.

 

In this regard the Head of the OECS Export Development Unit Vincent Philbert says the OECS is seeking an extension of the period for drawing down funds from the EU supported project to further facilitate business development in the nine member grouping: “We did have very encouraging meetings in Bridgetown. It’s clear that regarding the EU funds we got approval of the programme estimates at least for the formal period September to December 2009. We think that is too much of a short window to allow us to implement all we need to do. From this September the issue is whether we will be given an extension of the time to draw down on these funds because we have a short window of a few months. So we are seeking to get that extended to December 2010 which is a one year extension. This is because we have had some delays which affected disbursements in the past which caused us to lose some time. So what we were seeking approval for was an extension of twelve months to allow us to draw down on the approved programme estimates up to December 2010.” 

A meeting with officials of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) was another highlight of the visit. That meeting sought to provide initial input into the design of a new project, jointly sponsored by the IDB and CDB, and aimed at providing support for the region’s private sector to increase their competitiveness. Discussions with the IDB and CDB centered on the need to ensure the final project would be very responsive to the micro-economic challenges impacting OECS Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and the role that the OECS could serve as a key partner in facilitating the appropriate design of the new project.”Regarding discussions with the IDB, the project is still in the design stage. I would not want to give any timeline. I will leave that for the IDB/CDB to roll out on their terms. But clearly there is enthusiasm to get this thing going and the OECS Secretariat will play a very important role in designing the final product.” - Philbert 

Talks were also geared at attracting additional support for the development agenda of the OECS as it seeks to respond to the new economic landscape impacting regional business.The OECS contingent to Barbados was led by Mr. Randolph Cato, Director of the Economic Affairs Division of the OECS, accompanied by Head of the Export Development Unit, Vincent Philbert and Ms. Debra Blackman, EDU Business Development Officer.