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Tradewatch
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The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol. 8 No. 3 July 2014
TRAINING & CERTIFICATION FOR CAPACITY BUILDING
Bi-National Workshop between BHN-INDOCAL and
International Symposium of Quality 2014
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)
Caribbean Delegation pose for group photo during the International Symposium of Quality 2014 in the
Dominican Republic