CARIFORUM and UK EPA Study

In relation to Transport services , Trinidad and Tobago enjoyed the greatest comparative advantage within this category of exports to the UK, likely due to that country’s dominance as a regional air carrier, with Caribbean Airlines being the main regionally owned trans-Atlantic link between the Region and the United Kingdom. Guyana was observed to have an overall comparative advantage in the export of Insurance and Pension services to the UK, despite not being the largest exporter of those services to the UK. Though Trinidad and Tobago’s very strong performance during the last three years of the period, signals the development of a potential growth industry for that country. As it relates to Financial services , Guyana, which is not known for having a strong financial services export sector, emerged as the comparatively more dominant exporter of such services to the UK. Guyana also enjoyed the highest competitive margins among its CARIFORUM partners, despite the DR and Jamaica exporting larger amounts of financial services to the UK throughout the period. However, given the overall decline in CARIFORUM’s exports of Financial services to the UK, the UK is apparently either losing its attractiveness as a preferred destination for the region’s financial services exports, or there has been an overall decline in competitiveness in that target market, which may be attributable to the loss of correspondent banking relationships and the effect of blacklisting and de-risking on the Region’s banking and financial services sectors, particularly over the last five years. Among the remaining sectors, Dominica, followed by Guyana, was determined to be the most competitive exporter to the UK in the Telecommunications, Computer and Information services category, which is another potential growth area for the region. Jamaica was also adjudged the most dominant competitive exporter of Personal, Cultural and Recreational Services , while Saint Kitts and Nevis was the overall most competitive exporter in the Government Goods and Services category.

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