Trade Watch V8 No 3 July 2014

TRAINING & CERTIFICATION FOR CAPACITY BUILDING

Bi-National Workshop between BHN-INDOCAL and International Symposium of Quality 2014

Caribbean Delegation pose for group photo during the International Symposium of Quality 2014 in the Dominican Republic

Caribbean Export’s on-going Binational Programme has provided the framework for, and facilitated the execution of, a variety of projects and programmes within Hispaniola. The programme aims to dissolve the cultural, socio-political, and economic barriers between the Dominican Republic, out of which the programme is run, and its neighbour, Haiti in order to forge a mutually beneficial trade relationship. The programme has been driven forward by stakeholders from both territories who share a collective vision of a self-sufficient and diverse economy. Two agencies who share in this vision are the Haitian Bureau of Standards (BHN) and the Dominican Institute of Quality (INDOCAL) of the Dominican Republic who met to take part in a binational workshop and the from June 24- 26 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The workshop, which was held at the Hilton Hotel Embassy Suites in Santo Domingo, was an opportunity for metrology, standardization and conformity assessment from both Haiti and the Dominican Republic to engage in dialogue with the aim of constructing a cooperation action plan which provides a road map for future collaboration on trade and commerce. This plan will operate within the context of the MoU, which was recently signed between BHN and the Dominican Republic and was sponsored by Caribbean Export through the EU and CROSQ. The parties were privy to presentations from various stakeholders in the cooperation project, most notably Alexis Valqui, Head of Technical

Cooperation of the National Metrology Institute of Germany (PTB). Mr. Valqui spoke about the need for a meticulously crafted plan with a committee tasked with the execution and monitoring of the progression this plan. The presentations allowed the participants to gleam guidance on the way forward as well as useful information for the construction of action plan. After a day of intensive dialogue, the agencies participated in the Second International Symposium of Quality Infrastructure from June 25-26, 2014. The BHN attended the symposium as special guests of INDOCAL along with representatives from the Haitian Ministry of Agriculture. The symposium was conceptualised as a platform for discussions on the unification of quality standards and control on a regional and global level global. Both institutions were equipped with implementable tools for the enhancement of their individual and collective capacity for the promotion of quality standards in the SMEs of their respective countries. This is the main objectives of the Agency for all CARIFORUM States and it is hoped that, through the combined efforts of the BHN and INDOCAL that this will be achieved in Hispaniola. (TW)

12 Tradewatch • The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol. 8 No. 3 July 2014