Caribbean Institute of Certified Management Consultants launched

Professional services are relevant in an age of a changing global environment, where there are many opportunities available.{{more}}

The Vincentian economy has since moved from an agro based economy to a service based economy.

“Our services constitute about 70 per cent of our Gross Domestic Product and so consequently, we have had many opportunities opening up worldwide,” Curtis Dennie, Business Facilitation Officer at Invest SVG said at the launch of the local chapter of the Caribbean Institute of Certified Management Consultants (CICMC) on Tuesday, June 5, at the National Insurance Services (NIS) conference room in Kingstown.

He said that the role of services is important to an emerging economy and in a country such as St Vincent and the Grenadines, there are a number of professionals, but there is also a shortage of professional organizations.

“So, this initiative is really the way of trying to launch us to become fully integrated into the global economy,” Dennie continued.

Among the functions of the launch was to sensitize the private sector and government agencies of the availability of professional services in the management consulting industry in St Vincent and the Grenadines and to sensitize participants of the role of CICMC and the opportunities that currently exists for management consultants.

He explained that professional services now stand at the front and centre of the country’s economic development.

“And we are trusting that more and more persons become more competitive on the global sense and remember we cannot compete on the level of goods,” he said.

He contended that Vincentians would become more competitive on the global scene, especially since we are able to compete more in the service sector than on the level of goods.

Services are the engine of growth that will take the country forward, Clarence Harry, Director of Trade explained.

He added that the country is no longer a standalone territory, but is part of the global village.

“We are in the big club, so we have full benefits and rights and privileges as any member.”

According to Harry, the launch was an indication that the professionals of this country are going in the right direction.

“We cannot continue to operate the way we are,” he said.

Featured speaker at Tuesday’s launch, Ambassador Ellsworth John said that the initiative could not have taken place at a better time, one where there are various integration movements.

That is coupled with the fact that some of the intellectual capacity that resides here is equal to that in the developed world.

“We therefore welcome this move from CICMC to establish a local chapter,” he said. (DD)