As a follow up to President Clinton's commitment at the Bridgetown summit held in May 1997, the Department of Commerce will organize a senior level business development mission to three Eastern Caribbean countries to promote expanded trade and investment opportunities for U.S. firms. The Clinton Administration has long been committed to fostering and supporting the region's goals of economic diversification, sustained growth, and social stability through the creation of service and niche industries. The President's commitment to the Eastern Caribbean was clearly confirmed with the Economic Goals that were established in the Bridgetown Summit. The United States is committed to increased participation in the economies of the region through: 1) the sales of goods and services in the sectors mentioned below, and 2) joint ventures and investments to foster competitiveness in each country and throughout the region.
With stops in Barbados, Grenada and St. Lucia, the mission will cover all of the Windward Islands (meetings will be held on Barbados with representatives from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Dominica), focusing on export and business development opportunities for U.S. firms in the areas of tourism development (to include resort management, architectural/engineering services, marina development, building supplies and hotel/resort supplies), specialty and gourmet food industry development (to include food processing and packaging machinery and services, agricultural chemicals and industrial veterinary supplies) and opportunities in the business services area (financial, insurance and data processing) for small, medium and large companies through contacts with both the government and private sector.
The Eastern Caribbean countries have embarked upon an economic diversification effort, moving their economies away from a primary dependency upon agriculture toward a greater focus on tourism and business services, as well as niche product industries. New policies give equal treatment to foreign companies, and liberalize and create greater transparency in import regimes. These island countries, in varying stages of economic diversification, possess remarkable natural and human resources, along with expanding industry that offers many opportunities for both U.S. investors and small to medium-sized exporters.
The United States is one of this area's largest trading partners, accounting for more than 26% of their two-way trade. Additionally, U.S. firms hold more than $1 billion in investment in the region in varying sectors, including tourism, information processing, chemicals, consumer goods, electrical power and manufacturing.
The principle objective of the mission is to reaffirm the Clinton Administration's commitment to fostering and supporting the region's goals of economic diversification, sustained growth, and social stability through the creation of service and niche industries, while heightening U.S. private sector participation. The United States is committed to increased economic participation in the region through the sales of goods and services in the above-mentioned sectors and through joint ventures and investments to foster competitiveness in each country and throughout the region.
The goals for the mission are:
Increase sales of U.S. products and services and highlight business development opportunities for U.S. companies to the Windward Islands, focusing on the areas of tourism development (to include resort management, architectural/engineering services, marina development, building supplies and hotel/resort supplies), specialty and gourmet food development (to include food processing and packaging machinery and services, agricultural chemicals and industrial veterinary supplies) and opportunities in the business services area (financial, insurance and data processing) for small, medium and large companies through contacts with both the government and private sector;
Introduce U.S. companies to the Eastern Caribbean marketplace and apprise them of the commercial climate(s) in the various countries;
Introduce participating U.S. companies to federal and provincial leaders and to representatives of U.S. firms in the Eastern Caribbean, and;
Promote U.S.-Caribbean cooperation in pursuing strategic alliance opportunities leading to the expansion of U.S. exports and increased investment in the Eastern Caribbean States.
Mission recruitment of 10-15 U.S. enterprises in the above-mentioned sectors. Participants will be recruited from as broad a base as possible of interested and qualified U.S. companies. Recruitment will be accomplished through publication of a Federal Register notice advertising the mission, posting of notices on appropriate sites on the Internet, through mission announcements sent via e- mail to Commerce Department Export Assistance Centers and Western Hemisphere Teams, by means of contact lists developed by the Commercial Service in Santo Domingo and ITA's Office of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as appropriate ITA industry offices in Trade Development, through the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), and with announcements made through regional associations such as C/LAA and the Eastern Caribbean Investment Promotion Service (ECIPS) and industry specific trade associations in the food and food processing, tourism, and business services areas.
The program for the mission will include:
Individuals must be a senior level executive, appropriate to the goals of the mission, with authority to execute sales and other marketing agreements. Company participation will be determined on the basis of:
Relevance of a company's business line to the plan for the mission;
Past, present and prospective business activity in the Caribbean;
Diversity of company size, type, location, demographics and traditional under-representation in business.
A company's products or services must either be produced in the United States or, if not, marketed under the name of a U.S. firm and have U.S. content representing at least 51 pert of the value of the finished product/service. A national interest exception may be applied to this 51 percent rule when a senior Department official deems it appropriate.
An applicant's partisan political activities (including political contributions) are irrelevant to the selection process. The recruitment and selection of private sector participants in the mission will be conducted according to the Statement of Policy Governing Department of Commerce Overseas Trade Missions announced by Secretary Daley on March 3, 1997 and reflected herein.
Mission participants will agree to pay the mission fee of $2,100.
Applications should be submitted to Rebecca K. Hunt in order to ensure sufficient time to obtain in-country appointments for applicants selected to participate in the mission. For additional information on the trade mission or to obtain an application, business persons should contact:
Rebecca K. Hunt
Regional Commercial Officer for the Caribbean (based in the Dominican Republic)or
R.L. Mann