Caribbean looks north for business - TheChronicleHerald.ca

[Anguillan newsboy]

Group representing 9 countries flogs growing service industry
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Thu. May 29 - 4:33 AM

The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States may be small in numbers, but it sees a big future in service-related industries, says its director general, Len Ishmael.

"Our countries don’t necessarily trade in goods because they’re so small," she said in an interview in Halifax on Wednesday, noting that the combined population of the organization’s nine member countries is less than 600,000.

"Our potential is in service industries. This is an area in which we need to grow and attract investment."

The organization, formed in 1981, represents Antigua and Barbuda; Dominica; Grenada; Montserrat; St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia; the Grenadines; the British Virgin Islands; and Anguilla.

Ms. Ishmael and other organization staff are visiting Halifax, Calgary and Ottawa, where the group maintains an office, to raise awareness about the region and its economic potential.

A number of Bermuda-based international financial services have recently set up branch offices in Halifax, and Ms. Ishmael said her organization sees similar potential for the Caribbean in the medical services and education sectors.

"We do note a very, very strong demand in the United States and in Canada for all different kinds of elective surgery, including cosmetic surgery," she said.

"Persons in your country and in the U.S., and in the U.K. and Europe as well, fly rather long distances to be able to procure these services outside this hemisphere."

Education is another area with great potential for the Caribbean, she said, noting that the region has strong links with post–secondary institutions in Nova Scotia.

"A number of colleges have established offshore satellite campuses in our part of the world, and it’s a service industry that we can grow," she said, adding that many Caribbean students have studied at Nova Scotia universities such as Saint Mary’s and Dalhousie, which has worked with the organization on ocean governance issues.

"The OECS and Nova Scotia have very, very strong links," she said, noting that the organization has signed a memorandum of understanding to share technology with the provincial Environment Department.

"There’s been quite a lot of transfer of technology and consultancy between this province and our organization, particularly in the green technologies," she said.

"Wider than that, of course is the fact that Canada has an increasing presence, over the last 20 years or so, in the Caribbean as a whole and in the OECS."

Last year, the federal government committed $600 million in funding to the Caribbean Community and Common Market, which includes the eastern Caribbean states, through the Canadian International Development Agency.

The money, to be distributed over 10 years, will be used to support trade competitiveness, disaster risk management and institutional leadership development programs.

While in Halifax, Ms. Ishmael attended the annual meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank, which includes members from outside the region, including Canada, China, Germany, Italy and the U.K

Canadian banks, particularly the Bank of Nova Scotia, which has operated in the region since 1889, and the Royal Bank are major players in the Caribbean, said Ms. Ishmael.

"Canada now owns the three largest commercial banks in the Caribbean," she said, and these have ***ets of more than $40 billion.