Grenada will launch its National Export Strategy on Thursday, July 27, 2017. This new strategy will be implemented over a period of 5 years, 2017-2021, with the aim of boosting Grenada’s exports.
Honourable Oliver Joseph, Minister of Economic Development, Planning and Trade will receive the strategic document, from the Commonwealth Secretariat, in the presence of the Consultants and Government Officials. Stakeholders from the private and public sectors including Permanent Secretaries; and representatives from Civil Society Organisations, Export Facilitating Agencies and Academia will also be in attendance.
Over the past year, the Commonwealth Secretariat has been working with the Government of Grenada, through the Division of Trade, to complete the National Export Strategy. Through active participation from key stakeholders, which involved extensive exercises, workshops, sector groups’ sessions and a national consultation, 6 priority sectors that have potential to increase exports were identified, as follows:
- Agriculture and Fisheries – Agro-processed products, fishery products, cinnamon, cocoa, nutmeg, soursop and cloves;
- Creative Industries – art and craft industry, audio visual industry, film industry, fashion industry;
- Health and Wellness – herbs and spices and therapeutic tourism;
- Maritime and Yachting Services;
- Tourism; and
- Professional Services – Management Consulting and Information Communication Technology (ICT)
These sectors were chosen in tandem with an assessment of the economy’s potential and its ability to spur growth and sustain development in those areas.
In addition to the above, 7 cross-cutting challenges that affect the priority sectors, as well as other sectors were identified. They are as follows: –
- Access to Finance;
- Cost of Finance (when it is accessible);
- Technical Skills;
- Market Intelligence;
- Transport;
- Quality of Products and Services; and
- Market presence in foreign countries
The Strategy looked at the main aspects of the enabling environment which warrants focused and targeted interventions to increase the country’s supply capacity. This involves boosting the country’s ability to produce good quality products at a competitive price, lowering the transaction costs of trading across borders and creating new opportunities for the country’s producers to penetrate regional and global markets, as reflected in the strategy’s vision.
Further, the document established a strategic action plan and an implementation framework to assist key agencies to execute their plans; and to measure and monitor the implementation progress. It must be noted that a National Implementation Coordinating Team (NICT) is already appointed to ensure successful implementation of the action plan.
The National Export Strategy relies on strong Private-Public Partnership, including, dedicated accountable agencies and reliable support services system to achieve successful implementation.
Division of Trade
