Implementation of the 10th EDF Regional Provate Sector Programme

STRONGER TRADE AND INVESTMENT RELATIONS BETWEEN CARIFORUM, FCORS AND OCTS

opinion is intended to assist Caribbean Export in its trade advocacy role in the Caribbean. Also in 2014, the Agency contracted Smart Consulting to conduct a Feasibility Study on the Establishment of a Technical Management Unit in the FCORs. The objectives of this research were to examine the current trade and investment climate between the FCORs and CARIFORUM, and the promotion services available to exporters from the two regions; assess the needs of exporters and other stakeholders from CARIFORUM and the FCORs to increase trade; evaluate the possible options for meeting those needs and the provision of timely information to potential exporters as well as support for their projects; develop financial models to estimate the potential income and expenditure for each of the short proposed options; and make recommendations based on the evaluation of each proposed option. These will focus on Caribbean Export’s long-term objective of increased and sustained CARIFORUM exports to the FCORs. Caribbean Export currently holds the Chairmanship for the CARIFORUM/ FCOR/OCT Task Force on Trade and Investment, which has a mandate to encourage dialogue between trade and investment officials from the public and private sectors of the three regions. Meetings of the Task Force primarily includeGovernment representativesof thethreeregions, regional organisations such as CARICOM, CARIFORUM, and the OECS Secretariats, as well as select members of the private sector from CARIFORUM, the FCORs and the OCTs. In 2013, Caribbean Export convened the 7th and 8th meetings of the CARIFORUM/FCOR/OCT Task Force on Trade and Investment. A total of 49 participants from the three regions met to discuss further engagement opportunities. Following the meetings, it was recommended that a subcommittee on the trade in goods be established. It was proposed that this sub-committee should be comprised of the private sector, customs officials, and tax experts. It is expected that this committee will provide market intelligence on penetrating these markets, which also represents a gateway to the broader EU market. The Agency also met with key officials from Montserrat to determine potential areas for collaboration, with the view of facilitating the increased involvement of the OCTs in enhancing trade and cooperation with CARIFORUM. CARIFORUM/FCORs/OCTs Task Force on Trade and Investment

common developmental challenges that territories are facing in the establishment of sustainable trade relations. All parties were able to gain an understanding of preventative trade issues being faced and to collectively brainstorm creative solutions. To conclude the day’s proceedings, the firms were given a guided tour of CEC, the Caribbean’s first special economic zone. The technology and information-based model is one, which was designed to attract international companies to the unique advantages of investment in the Caribbean context. As it relates to enhancing collaboration between CARIFORUM and the FCORs/OCTs, a fiche on technical cooperation between Caribbean Export and the Regional Council of Guadeloupe was developed in 2013, and anMOUwas signed between the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda and Guadeloupe in 2014. Caribbean Export further commissioned a study in 2014 on the Legal Opinion on the Imposition of the Octroi de Mer by the FCORs on Products Originating from CARIFORUM States. Researched and supplied by A-Z Information Jamaica Limited, the study sought a legal opinion on the Octroi de Mer, otherwise referred to as dock tax/dock dues, which is an internal tax applicable to all imports in the FCORs. This

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