Bridgetown,
BARBADOS, February 25, 2020.
The investment promotions agency of St. Vincent and the Grenadines –
Invest SVG has announced that the country’s inaugural SVG
Investment Forum will be held on 2nd
May 2020 on the island of Bequia.

The
announcement comes at a time when more and more countries across the
world are competing to attract foreign direct investment (FDI)
particularly as this is the third consecutive year for global decline
in FDI according to UNCTAD’s 2019 World Investment Report.

It
is noted however, that despite this the Caribbean continues to
receive some of the highest levels of FDI in the world and thus
making initiatives such as this a prime opportunity to increase
visibility and awareness for investment opportunities. Further, the
SVG Investment Forum 2020 comes within the country’s 40th
year of independence and it is anticipated that this will provide an
added bonus to increase the country’s visibility internationally
and of course with investors.

Executive
Director at Invest SVG Annette Mark described in her remarks how they
wanted to expose investors to the culture, way of doing business and
to expand their perception as to what could be possible. The aims of
the event are to produce “heightened visibility as a prime
jurisdiction in the Caribbean for investment. To generate investor
leads… and to give investors who are not familiar with St. Vincent
and the Grenadines and opportunity to meet public officials and to
understand how we do business here”.

Ms.
Mark also shared how the investors that would be in attendance would
be ‘qualified’ beforehand, to ensure the highest quality of
investor leads, ultimately increasing the possibility of doing
business.

InvestSVG
is expecting to attract over 100 attendees including qualified
investors, government officials, private sector representatives and
development partners to the event in May, which is being supported by
the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) the
Caribbean Development Bank and Compete Caribbean.

Gayle
Gollop, Legal Advisor at Caribbean Export delivered remarks on behalf
of Officer in Charge, Anthony Bradshaw who was unable to attend.

“Caribbean Export recognizes that the Vincentian economy is focused on growth in the upcoming years. The IMF projected a 2.3% growth in 2020 for the economy fuelled by increased tourist arrivals. It is however recommended that sustainable growth be achieved by enhancing the competitiveness of the local private sector, increasing exports and investments and reaching new markets, which will lead to increased GDP, foreign exchange earnings and employment. We view the Investment Forum as an important step in establishing linkages and promoting investment into the country and achieving this growth objective.”

About
Caribbean Export

Caribbean
Export is a regional export development and trade and investment
promotion organisation of the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM)
currently executing the Regional Private Sector Programme (RPSDP)
funded by the European Union under the 11th
European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean Export’s mission is to
increase the competitiveness of Caribbean countries by providing
quality export development and trade and investment promotion
services through effective programme execution and strategic
alliances.

More
information about Caribbean Export can be found at
www.carib-export.com.
Contact: JoEllen Laryea, PR and Communications, Caribbean Export
Development Agency, Tel: +1(246) 436-0578, Fax: +1(246) 436-9999,
Email: jlaryea@carib-export.com