Trade Watch V9 No3 2015

EXPORT DEVELOPMENT

Attracting Investment to Enhance Trade

It is amazing how the eyes of the world are constantly drawn to the 7,000 islands, islets and cays of the Caribbean archipelago—small economies, in terms of population size and GDP growth, but whose athletes are the best in the world, whose musical giants span generations and whose cuisine tantalizes. The renowned beauty of the Caribbean and its people makes the region a mecca for tourism. The region has capitalized on these endowments, with the tourism industry being one of its strongest investment opportunities. But tourism remains the region’s ‘Achilles’ heel’ as within this strength lies one of the foremost challenges that has been at the core of the development malaise in the Caribbean— a perception of the region as not necessarily being the place for doing business, besides tourism or related services. And the Caribbean has had to swallow many a bitter pill because of its heavy dependence on the tourism sector. Efforts to position other sectors as viable investment opportunities remain hamstrung by this perception and the limited resources available to position the region for other investment opportunities. In the wake of the latest global recession, investors have been slow to take notice of the Caribbean, particularly given an increased competition for scarce foreign investment. But the tides may be turning. There are regional developments that present opportunities to position the Caribbean in sectors other than tourism, diversifying the region’s investment offerings. There are projects underway in Jamaica and the Dominican Republic for the planned development of logistics and transshipment hubs and the Caracol Industrial Park in Haiti.

Recently, the buzz in the Caribbean has been the widening of the Panama Canal to allow for the passage of a new class of supersized cargo ships, known as Post Panamax ships, which are more than twice as big as the historical cargo shipping fleet. The expanded Canal is expected to open in 2015, allowing for lower cost shipments to the East Coast and permitting large retailers and manufacturers to reconfigure their network of factories and distribution centers so that more inventory can be stored closer to East Coast population centres. This development presents an opportunity for the Caribbean to take advantage of its strategic positioning in terms of north-south and east-west trade and the natural endowments of several deep water ports in the region. This will allow the region’s ports, suitably outfitted, to serve as logistic centres and transshipment hubs for the increased cargo expected to pass through the region. There has been some jostling in the Caribbean to capitalize on the increased business that will move through the Canal after the Post-Panamax locks have been opened in 2015. Jamaica and the Dominican Republic (DR) are among the frontrunners.

To read the entire article in the Caribbean Export Outlook click here

7 Tradewatch • The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol.9 No. 3, 2015