Saint Lucia

<p><span data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US">The Caribbean is known for great food, music and the arts. ITC through the UK Trade Partnerships Programme is leveraging existing trade partnerships across the region to grow exports in the specialty foods sector and creative industries.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p><span data-contrast="none">ITC&rsquo;s trade and market intelligence interventions in the 24 UK Trade Partnerships Programme countries will consist of several interrelated components</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">to foster transparency and &nbsp;enhanced access</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;to information on trade opportunities and market access requirements <span data-contrast="none">for small and medium</span><span data-contrast="none">-</span><span data-contrast="none">sized e</span><span data-contrast="none">nterprises</span></span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">. This will be done</span><span data-contrast="none">&nbsp;through</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;data</span><span data-contrast="none">?sharing, capacity building, and</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;the</span><span data-contrast="none">?setting up of&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">trade&nbsp;</span><span data-contrast="none">obstacle?alert mechanisms.</span></p>

<p><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">New text:&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">The ITC T4SD Hubs act as a <strong>one-stop shop offering integrated sustainability solutions supporting SMEs to transition to a green economy</strong>. The T4SD Hubs are a 5 year project implemented in 7 countries/regions: the Caribbean, Ghana, Kenya, Laos, Nepal, Peru and Viet Nam.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">The offering of the T4SD Hubs is structured around 5 thematic areas under which awareness raising workshops, e-learnings and customized coaching programmes are offered to <strong>build the business case for implementing sustainable business practices:&nbsp;</strong></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">These thematic areas include:</span></p><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">Compliance with Voluntary Sustainability Standards&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">Resource efficiency and circular production&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">Climate resilience&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">Positioning sustainable products in the international market&nbsp;</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">Access to green finance&nbsp;</span></li></ul><p><span style="color: rgb(97, 189, 109);">Besides the piloting of the service offering to built the necessary technical capacity, the T4SD Hub team supports the T4SD Hub hosts in building the needed management capacity and structures to roll out the service offering.</span></p><p><br></p><p>Old text:&nbsp;</p><p align="JUSTIFY" dir="LTR"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The ITC T4SD Hubs provides full support to SMEs in the implementation of green business practices. T4SD leverages its international networks to support SMEs in building green business strategies to access green finance and international markets for sustainable products, thus maximizing the T4SD programme&rsquo;s impact on the ground.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" dir="LTR"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">T4SD establishes six T4SD Hubs in Ghana, Kenya, Laos, Nepal, Peru and Vietnam until 2022.</span></p><p align="JUSTIFY" dir="LTR"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The T4SD Hubs consolidate T4SD&rsquo;s tools and services by acting as a <strong>one-stop shop offering integrated sustainability solutions for SMEs</strong>. The Hubs are replicable and scalable in size and implement key recommendations and findings of the 2017 OED evaluation of the T4SD Programme.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p>This project is strengthening the capabilities of TEPA (St Lucia&apos;s Trade Export Promotion Agency) and its network of TISIs to provide coherent capacity building programmes for potential and incipient exporters aligned with the newly designed &ldquo;Tastes of Saint Lucia&rdquo; brand. In addition, the project also seeks to build the capacity of public and private institutions to jointly develop, under the leadership of TEPA, a dynamic plan of action that will ensure the sustainable development of the export sectors. The plan provides a roadmap of activities to address Saint Lucia&apos;s main supply-side, business environment and market entry constraints while building on existing opportunities.</p><p>A Strategic Trade Development Roadmap has been finalized and validated by relevant stakeholders including list of constraints analysis, strategic objectives, five priority sectors (Information and Communication Technology; Creative Industries; Tourism; Food and Beverages; and Renewable Energy) and four trade support functional strategies (Trade Facilitation and logistics; Innovation; Skills development and educational services; and Access to Finance).</p><p>ITC&rsquo;s unique and recognized expertise for reinforcing TEPA&rsquo;s capabilities as a national trade and investment support institution translated into a solid and improved understanding of TEPA&rsquo;s strengths and challenges and informed several strategic changes done by the organization. This support facilitated first-hand access and exposure to unrivalled knowledge and innovations regarding management of trade support institutions, but also introducing TEPA to a regional and global network of top performing trade and investment support institutions through the participation into several events and networking activities.</p><p>The re-design of the &ldquo;Tastes of Saint Lucia&rdquo; (ToSL) brand has created a lasting impact. ITC worked with TEPA to adapt and convert the agency&rsquo;s &ldquo;Taste of Saint Lucia&rdquo; (TOSL) trademark into a sustainable and commercial brand that will be carried by approved Saint Lucian products and services in export markets. <span>&nbsp;</span>These activities included: i) The creation of an umbrella branding, comprising the development of a strategy and guidelines for its implementation; ii) The formation of a National Brand Committee established to manage the Export Brand, and defined policies for the brand roll out; and ii) The organization of several promotional activities on the island, with key markets via online and at a trade events in the UK.&nbsp;</p><p>These activities have resulted in: 10 companies have made enquiries for the use of the trademark; four products were included in a pilot exercise carrying the new &ldquo;Taste of Saint Lucia&rdquo; Brand are now being sold at a number of outlets on the island; and Significant increase in Website and Social Media traffic.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The overall objective of the Action (Alliances for Coconut Industry Development for the Caribbean Phase II) is to enhance competitiveness of small-scale farmers in coconut value chains through more sustainable production and commercialization performance and better local, regional, and global markets integration. This involves the implementation of an integrated and coordinated approach that results in enhanced competitiveness and resilience for the farmers, MSMEs and VC operators involved in coconut and associated crops value chains.</p><p align="JUSTIFY" dir="LTR">The proposal takes into consideration the outcomes, lessons learned and experiences gained during the implementation of phase I and aims to consolidate and increase its impact, scale, scope and sustainability. Following ITC&rsquo;s participatory process, phase II project proposal was officially endorsed by the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and by the CARIFORUM Directorate.</p>