Export Strategy to curb declining export

This country’s export figures have fallen at an alarming rate, and in an effort to strengthen this country’s export competitiveness, the National Investment Promotions Inc. (NIPI) has been working on the development of a national export strategy.

The proposed strategy will assess this country’s trading performance and prospects, while identifying key issues hindering the competitiveness of local products.{{more}}

The recently released IMF country report for 2005 shows the decline in export rates of goods and non-factor services.

Included in the list of rapidly declining exports is bananas, which has fallen victim to eroding trade preferences under new World Trade Organization (WTO) trade rules. Last year’s figures showed a further drop in banana exports by 20.2 per cent compared to the period of 2004.

With export commodities suffering severely, the Export Strategy will deal with the international competitiveness of the local business community by identifying the goods and services that will be competitive in the foreign market.

Focusing on the contributions of Public-Private Partnership, the Export Strategy will aim at fostering fiscal growth, strengthening economic diversification and encouraging employment creation in the local business sector.

Among the objectives of the export strategy is the transformation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines into an exporting nation that will be self-sustainable and balanced in growth. Projections forecast exports of goods to exceed EC$150 million and exports of service to exceed EC$435 million by the year 2007.