CARIFORUM and UK EPA Study

services. These represented the main UK services that were predominantly exported via Mode 3 in 2019. Therefore, these sectors could, thus, be targeted for investment promotion activities.

Finally, regarding CARIFORUM’s investment considerations vis-à-vis the UK , the analysis suggests that the region’s investors are likely to encounter several challenges in penetrating a subset of both the tangible and intangible goods producing sectors in the UK under the EPA. On the intangibles side, these include the provision, through Mode 3, of Banking and Financial services, Maritime (i.e., passenger and freight) Transportation services, Medical services, Sales and Marketing services, and the operation of Computer Reservation Systems. While on the tangibles side, there are likely to be challenges in relation to making direct investments in mining and quarrying activities, the manufacturing of refined petroleum products, the production, transmission/distribution of electricity, the manufacture and distribution of gas and gaseous fuels, and the production and distribution of steam and hot water. Perhaps the main silver lining, however, is the fact that the UK’s Services Trade Restrictiveness Index confirms that Britain’s regulatory environment is among the least onerous jurisdictions, when compared to its OECD counterparts, thus making it a potentially more open and welcoming investment destination than many of its competitors, which may provide some comfort to CARIFORUM investors. In fact, the UK’s relatively lower regulatory hurdles have been highlighted particularly in relation to the Legal Services and Broadcasting services sectors, which are among the more accessible sectors to CARIFORUM Services providers, and thus offer real and tangible opportunity for the region’s effective penetration of the UK services market through Mode 3 commercial establishment.

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