Keynote Speech: Regional Capacity Building Workshop to Enhance Services Exports Ambassador Rosalyn Hazelle St.

Kitts, 30 November 2 December, 2010

Introduction The service industries are experiencing rapid growth globally and are, increasingly, the subject of international trade discussions. Factors such as improved technology, reduction in trade barriers, competitive travel and telecommunications and the availability of skilled, low-cost labor has given rise to large export industries in the developing countries. Multilateral, Regional and bi-lateral Trade Agreements such as the WTO, the Economic Partnership Agreement between the CARIFORUM Countries and the European Union as well as the CARICOM CSME have expanded opportunities for global trade in services. Further expansion in trade opportunities are expected following the completion of a successful CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement as well as the Doha Development Round of Negotiations at the WTO.

Global Trend in Services Trade. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO): Growth in Global trade in Services was estimated at over 9% in 2008; Dominated by professional services; Valued at over US$3. Trillion; services account for over 70 percent of global production and employment; Services account for at least 20% of global trade.
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These trends make for a favorable global environment that Commonwealth CARICOM countries must take advantage of if we are to expand our participation in global trade. With the exception of Trinidad and Tobago, we all depend heavily on the services sector with more than 60 percent of our GDP being derived from this sector. It is important to note however that Trinidad and Tobago is increasing its stake in the services sector because of the opportunities being offered. For the OECS countries, including St. Kitts and Nevis, Services account for over 75 percent of our GDP. Importance of the Professional Services Sector For St. Kitts and Nevis, the importance of the Services Sector to the economy of the Federation cannot be over emphasized. More specifically, the Professional Services Sector provide for the further expansion of trade. The closure of the Sugar Industry meant that the dependence of the countrys foreign exchange earnings on that commodity has ended. However, St. Kitts and Nevis is well endowed with knowledge and therefore, the need to exploit the trade in Professional Services or knowledgebased trade has been seen as an option that should be explored. The challenge in doing so requires the preparation of our service providers to explore market opportunities not only within the Federation and CARICOM but the wider global markets through Trade Agreements such as the CARIFORUM-EC-EPA and the CSME.

The establishment of the National Coalition of Service Industries (NCSI) is one of the main vehicles through which technical and other assistance will be made available to Service Providers in the Federation. Whilst recognizing the limitations of our service providers to access market opportunities and the challenges faced for the operation of
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the CSI, the Government has been providing technical and administrative support to facilitate the development of the coalition.

There are tremendous opportunities for exporting Professional Services throughout the CSME and beyond. The global market is estimated at over US$3 trillion and this is a market the Federation will spare no effort to exploit. I am sure all CARICOM Countries are thinking the same. I am aware that through Caribbean Export, the Commonwealth Secretariat has formulated strategic plans for the export of Professional Services for Barbados, Dominica, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Similar work has been done for Guyana, Jamaica and Belize.

The major Professional Services currently available for export in the Federation include, Education Services, Medical and Health and Wellness, Construction and Constructionrelated Services, Legal Services, Management Services, Consulting Services, ICT Services and Cultural Services. The Government will continue to ensure that

Professional Service providers explore the business opportunities offered through the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and other bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. The input from local service providers will help to formulate the Federations negotiating positions in the ongoing CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Agreement.

In this regard, initiatives in capacity building is made available to Service Providers to enable them to understand the market access issues as well as assist them in identifying these business opportunities and take advantage of same. This workshop is one such activity that the Ministry of International Trade, Industry, Commerce and
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Consumer Affairs and the Commonwealth Secretariat have collaborated towards achieving this objective.

St. Kitts and Nevis, like its sister CARICOM countries have established a National Coalition of Services Industries (SKNCSI) to assist service providers in better understanding the services sector, expanding their markets, developing their export potential, and developing and marketing their business. The Ministry of International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs, work in close collaboration with (NCSI) and other service providers to assist them in understanding all the Trade Agreements that St. Kitts and Nevis is partied to in order to enable them to export their services globally, using the facilities of the Agreements.

Recent studies conducted by the Commonwealth Secretariat to determine the export potential of Professional Services of several CARICOM countries have revealed that the region has tremendous potential for taking advantage of the market opportunities that exist for global services trade. The Region is identified as a major supplier of the following Professional Services:

Construction related services (including Architecture and Quantity Surveying); Engineering related services; Health and Wellness Services; Medical Services Management Services; Education Services; ICT (information and Telecommunications) Services
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Legal Services; Entertainment and Cultural Services Film and Entertainment /Creative Industries. The list is not exhaustive. However, one of the challenges facing the region is in establishing a reputation of being a competitive and high quality supplier of Professional Services. We must work at creating this reputation as quickly as possible. There are other challenges which I will not list now because I am sure these will be identified along with possible solutions at the national and regional levels including policy options to address them. A number of recent developments call for a re-assessment of the competitiveness of services. These include: 1. The impact of the global recession and financial crisis in the leading target export markets; 2. The missed deadlines in the Doha Development Agenda; 3. The growing number of regional and bilateral negotiations and Agreements; 4. The emergence of Asia and Brazil as strong global players and; 5. The changing roles of national and regional public and private sector organisations involved in promoting services. Over the next three days, this workshop aims to address some of these issues following which I believe we will be better placed to participate in global services trade, having improved our understanding of the Services Sector, in particular, professional Services,

which can provide the opportunity for increasing our overall exports, diversify our respective economies and improve our socio-economic development. This workshop with over 40 participants and resource persons is aimed at providing a platform to exchange approaches, opportunities and challenges in developing and implementing strategies to enhance the export of professional services. In particular, the workshop seeks to: 1. Review the implementation of frameworks to improve the export of professional services, identify challenges and devising solutions to address them; 2. Discuss current issues and priorities in promoting professional services exports, and; 3. Consider future prospects and strengthen partnerships to improve the competitiveness of professional services in the region

The key themes are: An Overview of the Services Sector in the Commonwealth Caribbean; Developing strategic frameworks for services: Is it important? What is Individual Country Experiences; Identifying the main challenges as well as solutions in implementing strategies for expanding and increasing the exports of Services; Success stories; Professional Services in the Commonwealth Caribbean a future outlook.

We are extremely thankful to Ms. Estella Aryada and her colleagues in the Trade Section of the Commonwealth Secretariat for organizing this regional workshop. I should add that earlier this year, a Commonwealth-wide Professional Services workshop was held in Mauritius. Many persons from the Caribbean were unable to attend because of the volcanic ash over Europe which severely affected air travel. This workshop which you are attending over the next three days was organized to ensure that the Commonwealth Caribbean would not be left out. We thank Estella for this. The Commonwealth Secretariat has always provided very useful financial and technical assistance to the Caribbean Region. Here in St. Kitts and Nevis, more recently, the Secretariat has made available the services of a Trade Policy Adviser to the Ministry of International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs in the person of Mr. Andrew Satney. Since joining the Ministry in April this year, the quality of work and output of the Ministry has improved substantially. We are grateful and I believe so is the region for the various forms of support provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat. I wish you a highly rewarding workshop. The organizers have put together a programme that will guide you through this process. Your active participation is extremely important if we are to realize the goals of the workshop and make it a success. I hope you take the opportunity to enjoy the warm hospitality of our people, some of the best cuisine in the world and experience the good life of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis through some of our cultural and historical fares. It is addictive; you will come back.

May God Bless us all.