WTO Regional Forum on Aid for Trade for the Caribbean: OECS Case Stories Preparation for 3 rd Global Aid for Trade Review 1

Regional Case Stories  Institutional Capacity Building in Trade Policy Management  OECS Hub & Spokes Project  Support for the Private Sector through the OECS Export Development Unit 2

Institutional Capacity Building  The 2001 Trade Policy Review Report of the OECS-WTO Member States [noted] that there was a “critical need for technical and financial assistance to the economies of the Eastern Caribbean… in the general areas of economic policy formulation and implementation, and particularly trade policy formulation and implementation. 3

Institutional Capacity Building  Key interventions were the CIDA funded Trade Policy Project and the Establishment of the OECS Joint Technical Mission  Donors included CIDA, Common wealth Secretariat, EU (ACP-PMU, 9 th EDF)  Estimated cost: UDS4.65M 4

Institutional Capacity Building  Issues addressed: Lack of capacity to participate in regional and international trade agreements and negotiations at the regional and national levels Absence of coordination or a coordinating mechanism for managing trade affairs 5

Institutional Capacity Building Limited to non-existent capacity of OECS Member States to meet obligations in regional and international agreements Lack of a regional trade policy framework Lack of representation and promotion of OECS interests in multilateral negotiations at the WTO and UN trade related bodies. 6

Institutional Capacity Building  Objectives Pursued: To facilitate the development and maintenance of an OECS international trade strategy To strengthen OECS capacity to meet obligations under regional and international trade agreements 7

Institutional Capacity Building To strengthen OECS capacity to participate effectively in international trade negotiations To effectively manage and promote the OECS trade, economic and development interests in multilateral trade negotiations and in the regular bodies of the WTO and at the UN Trade-related organisations in Geneva 8

Institutional Capacity Building  Design & Implementation CIDA TPP detected deficiencies and provided recommendations on how to address these weaknesses Capacity building activities for the public and private sector & technical studies inter alia improved capacity to engage in negotiations and implement trade agreements 9

Institutional Capacity Building  Problems Encountered: National budgetary constraints Failure to sustain private sector involvement  Factors for Success/Failure Political endorsement Ownership by beneficiaries Flexibility 10

Institutional Capacity Building  Results: OECS Trade Negotiations Group (TNG) in Trade Policy Unit in 2003 Joint OECS Technical Mission in OECS Trade Policy Framework in 2005 Proposals submitted in the WTO negotiations in areas of priority for the OECS region 11

Institutional Capacity Building  In general these reforms have Improved awareness of trade policy matters throughout the OECS region Significantly raising the awareness, visibility and profile of the OECS as individual Member States and as a region in Geneva, in the multilateral trading system and in the UN Specialised Agencies (WIPO, UNCTAD and ITC). 12

Institutional Capacity Building  Lessons Learned: Build on successes/achievements Concentrate on recipient priority issues as time and resources are limited Flexibility should be built in to the project design to allow for reallocation of resources as needed in response to shifts in priorities Donor coordination is important 13

OECS Hub & Spokes Project – Lessons Learned/Best Practices  Capacity Building Activities Recipient involvement in determining priority activities Keep workshops/seminars to 2 days Maintain follow up to keep interest 14

OECS Hub & Spokes Project – Lessons Learned/Best Practices  Establishing/Managing Public-Private sector Networks Inadequate $$, HR for secretariats serving private sector associations and in ministries to support private sector. Therefore budgetary support should be provided for regular forums and for Trade Economist(s) to be assigned to work with the private sector 15

OECS Hub & Spokes Project – Lessons Learned/Best Practices  Trade Policy Formulation/Negotiations Use of expert groups to develop policies/positions which are then circulated to TNG and Ministers for discussion and/or endorsement Technical analyses can be done through TPU, trade related projects/consultants 16

OECS Hub & Spokes Project – Lessons Learned/Best Practices  Implementation of Trade Policies/Agreements Extensive sensitization sessions pitched generally in the first instance. Followed by small group sessions that are issue/sector specific. 17

Support for the Private Sector through the OECS Export Development Unit  Through the OECS Export Development Unit, there are programmes geared at the private sector to increase competitiveness of client firms through management enhancement, product development and marketing support. Donors for these programmes have included CIDA and the EU 18

 Under the 9 th EDF XCD$5,092,657 over 2005 – 2010 for market expansion and export diversification, capacity building for Business Support Organisations (BSOs) as responses to individual client requests, cluster activities, advisory services, in plant technical assistance.  CIDA-Human Resources Development Canada XCD$485,745 over 2007 – 2009 for occupational health and safety 19

 Promoting World Class Manufaturing (WCM) Flagship enterprise is Baron Foods as one of the key beneficiaries who they have worked with over time to develop and promote this concept 20

THANK YOU…. 21