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of terms of reference (TOR) for the convening of a Steering Committee, which
would guide the establishment and operations of the process. The Regional
Investment Promotion Steering Committee (RIPSC) held its inaugural meeting
in Guyana in June 2012. On this occasion, the 17- member body deliberated the
TOR for the undertaking of an incentives study, investor perception survey, the
RIPS implementation plan, and guidelines for the operations of the Committee.
In addition to these discussions, Professor Alvin Wint, Pro-vice Chancellor of the
University of the West Indies (UWI), and Sonia Roden, General Manager of the
Grenada Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), were selected as Chair and
Deputy Chair respectively.
Following the inaugural meeting of the RIPSC, an invitation for proposals was
published in August 2012 to conduct an investor perception survey, and a
benchmarking study of CARIFORUM
investment incentives; it was agreed
by the Committee that the results of
these two studies would inform the
RIPS’ strategy and implementation
plan. Twenty-five (25) proposals were
received for both studies, and following
evaluations by a sub-committee of
the RISPC, contracts were awarded to
FDI Intelligence for the development
and execution of an Investor
Perception Survey for CARIFORUM,
and to ICA Consulting Limited for the
implementation of a Benchmarking
Study on Investment Incentives within
CARIFORUM. Both studies were
completed in July 2013, and feedback
on the findings was solicited from key
stakeholders, including regional and
national policymakers.
During successive meetings, the RISPC
served as a “think-tank” for matters
relating to investment promotion,
in addition to guiding the progress
of the RIPS. As development of the
RIPS progressed, Caribbean Export
undertook a series of regional
stakeholder consultations in February
and April 2014. The missions
journeyed to 10 CARIFORUM States,
and were executed with a view to
gathering information from the local
IPAs, private investors, and public
sector representatives responsible
for investment promotion. The
consultations were also conducted to
gain a perspective from the IPAs on
their national investment promotion
strategy, organisation structure, and
IPAS VISITED DURING THE RIPS REGIONAL CONSULTATIONS
Country
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda Investment
Authority (ABIA)
The Bahamas
Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA)
Belize
Belize Trade and Investment
Development Service (BELTRAIDE)
Dominica
Invest Dominica Authority (IDA)
Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic Export and
Investment Center (CEI-RD)
Guyana
Guyana Office for Investment
GO-Invest)
Haiti
Center for Investment Facilitation in
Haiti (CFI-Haiti)
St. Kitts and Nevis
St. Kitts Investment Promotion Agency
(SKIPA)
Suriname
Investment and Development
Corporation Suriname (IDCS)
Trinidad and Tobago
Invest in Trinidad and Tobago
(InvesTT)
Investment Promotion Agency
ENHANCING COMPETITIVENESS
AND PROMOTING INNOVATION