Daniel said the name change and
branding change simplify things as
the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority
(SLTA), CIP Unit, Invest Saint
Lucia and Export Saint Lucia fall
under the same branding. With
a common brand, she said, these
agencies are able to coexist in
the market without confusing the
consumer.
With the NES, Daniel said Export
Saint Lucia will focus on specific
sectors and markets and give all
Saint Lucian exporters a common
platform, adding that it will work in
tandem with another brand – “Taste
of Saint Lucia”.
“Aside from the taste, you can also
get the ‘Taste of Saint Lucia’ in the
experience that you have in Saint
Lucia, including the superiority
and excellence that our service
providers offer,” Daniel said. “The
‘Taste of Saint Lucia’ brand will be
trademarked. Brand Saint Lucia
and the different sectors and
markets will be merged into one,
which will then define activities
which we’ll be focused on.”
Daniel noted that the strategy
also helps to identify priority
markets for Saint Lucia now,
including in CARICOM and the
OECS, commenting that “we don’t
think we’ve been using enough of
CARICOM and the OECS, so we’ll
be focusing a lot on (those blocs).
We’ll also be doing a lot more work
in the UK.”
Earlier this year, the Cabinet of
Ministers in Saint Lucia approved
a National Services Policy along
with the Services Sector Strategy
and Action Plans for four priority
service sectors: Creative Industries;
Information and Communications
Technology (ICT); Professional
Services; and Spa and Wellness.
This milestone follows years of
collaboration and consultation
among the Department of
Commerce and major stakeholders.
The Services Policy’s broader vision
is to position Saint Lucia as the
leading provider of world-class
services in the Eastern Caribbean
by harnessing the talent and
creativity of Saint Lucian service
providers, and promoting service
excellence and becoming globally
competitive in selected service
industries.
Additionally, the underlying goal of
the Services Policy and resulting
strategy is to develop Saint Lucia’s
services infrastructure, thereby
enabling our service providers to
meet international standards and
14 SL-YOU | It’s All About Business
participate sustainably in global
value chains within their respective
service sub-sectors.
Speaking to the new Services
Policy, Minister for Commerce,
Bradly Felix, noted that: “The
services sector in Saint Lucia
is the main contributor to our
island’s GDP and employs a
large percentage of the island’s
workforce, with tourism and
tourism-related services being a
major component of this statistic.
“With the Government of Saint
Lucia having already invested
heavily in the tourism industry,
greater attention must now be
paid to other emerging service
sectors in which there is potential
for immense growth, both on
the domestic and international
markets.”
For Export Saint Lucia, services
play a crucial role as do goods.
Daniel said her agency will offer
more support to the creative
industries, including the Dennery
Segment music genre and
music producers. She believes
that unless a brand does well
nationally, chances are it won’t do
well internationally. Which is why
making local goods and services
export-ready becomes a priority.
www.slyoumag.com | February - April 2020