Services Scoop Trade in Services Magazine 2013

services scoop 32013 EDITION
november 2012 edition
8 Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit
9 The New Frontiers:
A message from the CNSC
Coordinator
10 From the desk of the Prime
Minister of Antigua and Barbuda
12SERVICES MATTER
12 Services Matter
13 Do We Really
Understand The EPA
14 What is a Services Export
15 Innovative Trade Policies for
Service Exporters
14
13
33
contents
17 Trade in Services Statistics
20 How and Why to Perfect
Your Intellectual Property
A Focus on Branding
24 Should've, Could've but Didn't:
Failure to Protect IP
26 Trinidad & Tobago Coalition of
Services Industries
5th Annual Services Week
30 Global Services Summit
32SERVICE COALITIONS
33 Services Coalitions
An Overview of
Experiences in the
Caribbean & Africa
36 Coalition Updates
38 BCSI Charting a New
Strategic Direction
41 Global Services Coalition
Communiqué

4 services scoop 2013 EDITION
42SERVICES SUCCESS
43 Move Over Willy Wonka
44 Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3
45 What You Sow:
Jakes Farm to Table
Dinners
46 The Meiling Story
67 Strategic Alliances 20 Reasons Why
Establishing Credibility 10 Tips
68 Capitalizing on Innovations
70 A Successful Service Exporter's
Buisness Card
72 Successful Services Exporting
First Steps
54SERVICE SECTOR
HIGHLIGHTS
55 Culinary Tourism
Let's Get Cooking
58 Face The Music
60 Contract Research
Organisations
Developing the Bioscience
Sector in the Caribbean
november 2012 edition
66SERVICES SUPPORT
68
44
45
55
contents
52 Coalition Contact Details
53 EPA Contact Details
56 Editor’s Note
Services Scoop is a publication by the
Caribbean Network of Service Coalitions
48 TTCSI Align Private Fashion
Showcase in London
Tackling New Markets
50 Interviews With Designers
52 Market Entry Challenges (VISA)
In Exporting to the EU
62 Down De Road to Opportunities
Maximizing on Carnival
64 Experiential Tourism:
Putting the 'Wow' in Your Business

DarleneDuggan
Duggan International
Group helps companies
and government create
their visitor experiences,
and develops and
implement marketing
strategies. The company
also specializes in
international trade sales
and business development
in tourism, professional
services, manufacturing
and ICT. Company
president, Darlene
Duggan, plans to attend
Caribbean Marketplace
in the Bahamas, January
2013 and would like to
meet with government
agencies and tourism
operators to discuss
experiential tourism and
marketing promotion.
Contact darlene@
dugganinternational.ca/
www.dugganinternational.ca
Lucilla has vast
experience in providing
technical assistance to
clients in the private
and public sector in the
CARICOM region and
wider Caribbean. She
worked as an Assistant
Secretary with the
Government of Dominica,
as Senior Economist with
the Eastern Caribbean
Central Bank and as
Manager, International
Business Unit with the
Government of Dominica
before she established her
private consultancy firm,
ICMS Ltd., in 2001. As an
independent consultant
she has worked with the
CARICOM Secretariat in
building capacity in the
compilation of statistics
in international trade in
services. Contact her at
lewisl2004@gmail.com.
Tamira La Cruz, MBA,
founder and CEO of
MarkStra Caribbean,
is a researcher and a
consultant to global firms
on corporate strategy,
competitiveness and
innovation. A business
economist, she has a
continuing interest in
small state innovations
and their monetization.
She can be contacted via
www.markstra.com, her
Caribbean Research and
Strategy blog, or tlacruz@
markstra.com.
Managing Director of
Brown Mint Productions
(BMP) Inc. and budding
attorney at law, Shalisha
Samuel wears the crown
of both a creator and a
businesswoman. After
composing music for
13 years, she launched
BMP Inc., a publishing
company and is currently
building the catalogue
and pitching to record
labels. Her music is a
melodic blend of her life
in the Caribbean, NYC
and Europe. At the World
Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO)
she was responsible for
developing strategic plans
for Caribbean member
states and coordinating
projects for regional
development through
the use of intellectual
property.
TamiraLaCruz
AndreaLivingston-Prince
ShalishaSamuel
LucillaLewis
CONTRIBUTORS
Andrea Livingston-Prince
is a business expert
with over two decades
experience in the
development of MSMEs.
A Masters in Business
Administration combined
with training, project
management, rural
development, accounting
and competitiveness
training has served her
clients well and will
continue to do so with the
usual attention to
excellence. Business
Works Limited has
been supporting rural
development and MSME
initiatives since 1990
and is domiciled in
Jamaica, USA and Belize.
businessdon.weebly.com
thebusinessadvisors@
gmail.com.

Sharleen Chin is the
CEO for Meiling Inc. Ltd,
responsible for publicity
and new business
development. She is
always on the lookout for
innovative ways to get the
brand to a global market
and was instrumental
in the ground breaking
presence of the Meiling
brand in virtual worlds.
A journalist by training
from the renowned
Ryerson University in
Toronto, she has over
25 years of experience
in public relations,
marketing, advertising,
fundraising, event
planning and sales. She is
also a certified life coach
and has given professional
development workshops
in Montreal, Toronto and
Trinidad. Sharleen is also
a director of the Meiling
Model Boot Camp. Email:
sharleen@meilinginc.com.
Liesl Harewood is a
Freelance Writer and
Founder of Wasiné
(https://www.facebook.
com/WasineInfo), a social
entrepreneurship network
that facilitates business
and trade development.
Her articles have been
published in the Barbados
Business Catalyst,
Zing and the Caribbean
Entrepreneur Magazine.
She can be contacted at
liesl@wasine.org.
Ms.LisaCummins is a
formercareerdiplomatand
servedatthe Headquarters
oftheMinistryofForeign
Affairsand ForeignTrade
andintheBarbados
EmbassyatWashington
DC. Atrade professional
bytraininganda specialist
inInternationalTrade in
Services,she servedas the
TradePolicyAdviserforthe
GovernmentofUganda as
partofaCommonwealth
Secretariat funded
programme. She was
leadadviserforUganda
onTradeinServices
andfortheEastAfrican
Community inregional
andEPAnegotiations.
Shehasconsultedforthe
WorldBank, UNCTAD,
theEUandTradeCom. She
iscurrentlythe Executive
Directorofthe BCSI, the
apexbodyresponsible for
promotingcompetitiveness
andservices exportingfrom
Barbados.
David brings almost 15
years experience working
at the intersection of
trade and development.
Alongside broader
strategic thinking and
management, his work
involves research and
stakeholder facilitation
primarily in the areas of
trade policy formulation
and negotiations in sub-
Saharan Africa. His recent
work touches on regional
integration, aid-for-trade
and notably trade in
services (including the
facilitation of enhanced
engagement of the private
sector). He is currently
the Executive Director
of the independent, not-
for-profit International
Lawyers and Economists
Against Poverty (ILEAP).
MichelleHustlerhas
dedicatedthepast
nine yearstotradein
servicesandsmall
businessdevelopment in
CARICOM. Presently
she iscontractedbythe
GIZtoraiseawarenesson
the importanceof services
and servicescoalitionsat
the regionallevel,support
the regionalcoalition
networkandprovide
developmentalassistance
tofledglingcoalitions. She
is alsocontractedbythe
CentreforDevelopment
ofEnterprise(CDE),
whereshesupportsthe
Caribbeanregionaloffice
throughenterpriselevel
competitiveness-enhancing
projectsacrossarangeof
sectors. Michellecanbe
reachedat michellehustler@
gmail.com.
DavidPrimack
MichelleHustler
SharleenChin
LieslHarewood
LisaCummins
contributors

EnaHarvey
Ena Harvey is the
Management Coordinator
- Caribbean Region &
Agribusiness Specialist
in Agrotourism with
IICA (InterAmerican
Institute for Cooperation
on Agriculture). She
works with both the
public and private
sectors in Latin America
and the Caribbean
in identifying and
developing new tourism
sites and attractions
in rural communities,
and promoting trade
of agricultural goods
and services with the
tourism sector. She can be
contacted at
ena.harvey@iica.int.
TanyaChase-Henrycurrently
servesastheExecutive
AssistantoftheDominica
CoalitionofServiceIndustries.
Tanya’sprofessional
careerspanssomeeleven
years,commencingwith
employmentintheaccounting
field,aftercompletionof
aB.Sc.Economicsand
Accountingwiththe
UniversityoftheWestIndies.
Hervaluableinputasa
foundingmemberofthe
teamspearheadingthe
implementationoftheDCSI
intoDominica’sbusiness
environment,canbeattributed
toherexperiencegainedfrom
herinvolvement withthe
implementationofreform
andchangemanagement
initiatives,asProject
Accountant,underthe
WorldBankGrowthand
SocialProtectionTechnical
AssistanceProjectin
Dominica.
Originally from the
French Caribbean island
of Martinique, Florence
Louis-Edouard shares
a deep passion for the
Caribbean as a whole
and more particularly for
its regional integration
process. An international
trade expert by training
and experience , Florence
has been working in
various institutions
dedicated to developing
micro, small and medium
sized enterprises since
2004. She has significant
experience in the design
and execution of projects
across a variety of sectors
to assist SME’s increase
their export sales. She
is currently residing in
Trinidad and Tobago.
Professor Chris Hillier is
a successful technology
entrepreneur and
respected academic
scientist with global
experience of company
spinout/start-up,
business development,
SME governance, IP
management, product
development, and
market analysis. He is
currently employed by
the University of the
West Indies to drive
the innovation and
entrepreneurship agenda
at their Cave Hill campus
in Barbados.
James Lim is the Program
Associate of CSI and
has been involved in all
of CSI's Global Services
Summits. He holds
a BA from Michigan
State University and
is currently pursuing a
Masters of Public Policy
with a specialization in
International Security and
Economic Policy from the
University of Maryland-
College Park. He is
originally from Detroit,
MI and presently resides
in Washington, DC.
James can be reached at
lim@uscsi.org.
ChrisHillier
JamesLim
TanyaChase-Henry
FlorenceLouis-Edouard
contributors

message
IwantedtobeginmythoughtswithaCaribbean
analogyof theprogressofthecoalitionsand
the CaribbeanNetworkofServiceCoalitions
(CNSC) overthepast twoyears,yetmotorsport’s
most famouswordskeepringinginmyears-
“Gentlemen…start yourengines!” Thisexciting
lastyear’sintroductionofGIZ’ssupporttothe
regionalcoalitionshasbeenfollowedbyayearof
buildingspeedandracingdownthetrack.
FromDecember2010toDecember2012:the
CNSCwasestablished,coalitionswereset-up
lastyearinJamaica,DominicaandAntigua&
BarbudaandthisyearinGrenadaandBelize,
thealreadyestablishedcoalitionsinSaintLucia,
BarbadosandTrinidadandTobagohavebecome
morefocused,strongerandbettersupported,and
coalitionsinGuyanaandDominicanRepublic
arepoisedtolaunchintheimmediatefuture.
TheGIZ,inanefforttofulfillitsmandatein
theCaribbean,“toassistregionalandnational
organizationsintheimplementationofthe
EconomicPartnershipAgreement”byenhancing
the“businessenvironmentforexport-oriented
companies”,hasservedtherole,inthiscase,of
thepit-stop,offeringthesupportandresources
necessarytoensurethattheracecontinues
speedilyalong.
Over thecourseoftheyeartheGIZhas
continueditsawarenessbuildingeffortswith
respecttotradeinservicesandtheimportantrole
thatthecoalitionsplaybymaintainingtheCNSC
website,monthlynewsletters,Facebookpage
andofcourse,themagazineyouarenowreading,
ServicesScoop. TheGIZalsosupportedthe
developmentofwebsitesforfourcoalitions and
willbeextendingthesamesupportto two others
intheupcomingmonths.
TheGIZhasprovidedtechnical supportto
coalitions,offeringthefledglingcoalitions the
guidancerequiredtoensureaquickandseamless
starttotheiractivitiesandwillcontinue to do so
inthefuture.
Theorganizationhasalsopartneredwith
coalitionstosupporttheirvarious initiatives. For
example,theGIZwasakeysponsorofTTCSI’s
ServicesWeekandsupportedthe BCSI’s LEED
CertificationinitiativeandEPAworkshops.
While the GIZ’s programme was
originally slated to end in December 2012,
the value of the work accomplished has been
recognized and an extension of the project
has very recently been approved.
Ilookforward,therefore,toanotherexcitinglap
intheracetodevelopalongsideourregionalCSIs
aninternationallycompetitiveservicessector.
WTO Director-General: Pascal Lamy
The global economy is being transformed at an unprecedented speed and at
the heart of that transformation is the services economy. (...) Services underpin
every part of the production process, from research and development to design,
engineering, financing, transportation, distribution and marketing. In short,
without services, there would be little value-added and innovation.
China International
Fair on Trade in Services, May 2012
Robert Glass
Executive Project Manager, EPA Implementation Support
Project Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusam-
menarbeit (GIZ), www.giz.de
Willkomen-
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

message
The New Frontiers
importance of services, real, sustained action
at the macro level is limited.
Itishowevereasytofindaproblemfor
everysolution. Suchanapproachisalsohighly
unproductive. Itisthereforeuptous,individually
andcollectivelytoploughthroughtheproblems,
untietheknotsandtomakethingshappen!
Inthatregard,wemustlookatourselves
first. FromthelimitationswhichIhaveidentified,
mostcanbeovercomebyserviceproviders
themselves. So,notwithstandingalltheveryreal
aforementionedconstraints,serviceproviders
mustgetupanddo. Justasamusicianwillinvest
innewinstruments,anITcompanyintraining
andhardwareandayachtservicecompany
inanewmarina,serviceprovidersmuststart
includingexplorationofnewmarketsandmarket
researchintheirbusinessplanning.
Inhugeswathsoftheservicesector,thereisno
substituteforpersonalrelationships. Inaddition,
wecannotbefearfuloftheapparentoverwhelming
sizeofexternalmarkets.Weshouldnottargeta
marketasvagueas“theEU”oreven“Germany”
oreven“Berlin”,wehavetobeabletofindthe
rightpartner(s)fortherightmarketsegment.
Onceweenterthemarket,wecangrow.
Too often it appears that businesses
lack self-belief, are risk-averse and see the
exploration stage as a hassle and a distraction
from their attempts to deal current issues and
constraints. As a result, many opportunities to
explore new markets go to waste.
Running a business is no easy task.
However, diversification of markets and
A Message from the Coordinator of the
Caribbean Network of Service Coalitions
Mr. Nirad Tewarie
revenue streams are critical to business
sustainability.
For this reason, the CNSC places much
emphasis on tackling the challenge of business
culture. The CNSC dedicates much energy
to raising awareness, showcasing examples
of success in order to inspire and motivate,
highlighting opportunities and offering export-
guidance – providing information and support.
One specific thing that both the region and
individual companies must work on however
is the issue of branding. Many countries in the
region are unknown in potential markets and
our services are assumed to be low-quality.
This in itself is a tremendous barrier to service
exporting and needs to be addressed.
Over the last year, we have seen the launch
of several new Coalitions. In addition, the
work of the existing Coalitions is beginning to
bear fruit. Collaboration with both national
and regional agencies involved in export
promotion and service sector development
is increasing. As we seek to build on these
very positive gains the CNSC will continue
to collaborate as a network and also with
strategic partners to further develop the
region’s services sector.
In this regard, on behalf of the CNSC, I
would like to say a special thank you to the GIZ
for its continued support and valuable advice.
Feel free to call on us at any time for
assistance, advice or support. We look forward
to working with you to take Caribbean
businesses to the world!
Warm regards,
Nirad Tewarie
This means that our role is to help companies
do more business. We are business support
organizations. Our task is therefore both
daunting and exciting.
It is a daunting task because service
providers, except for a few, are not very
outward looking. Moreover, they are up
against a plethora of very real limitations.
These include the difficulty in accessing
financing, challenges in establishing credibility
in new markets, weak policy frameworks, little
knowledge of market opportunities, language
barriers and poor cultural-understanding.
While many in the region talk of the
Nirad Tewarie
Coordinator, Caribbean Network of Service Coalitions
and Executive Director, Trinidad and Tobago Coalition
of Services Industries, http://c-nsc.org / www.ttcsi.org
The primary goal of a service coalition is to
assist in the expansion of the service sector.

Dearreader,asLeadHeadofGovernmentwith
responsibilityforServicesintheCaribbean
Community(CARICOM)QuasiCabinet,it
givesmegreat pleasuretobeassociatedonce
againwiththiseditionoftheServicesScoop
Magazineandthustoprovideyouwiththebroad
scopeof developmentsintheregionalservices
sectorfortheyear2012.
Theyear2012wasquiteachallengingonefor
the small,vulnerableeconomiesofCARICOM.
The globaleconomicrecession,whichappears
unwillingtogoaway,andthefirstandsecond
stageeffectsof theinternationalfinancial
crisiscontinuedtheirtollonallaspectsoflife
in oursmallregion,especiallyinAntiguaand
Barbuda. Internally,governmentscontinuedto
behard-pressedtomeettheobligationsoftheir
electorate,whileexternally,measurestakenby
somegovernmentstoaddressfallingrevenuesare
nowadverselyaffectingoursmalleconomies. I
makespecificreferencetotheAirPassengerDuty
imposedbytheUKandthenon-settlementbythe
USAoftheawardtoAntiguaandBarbudainthe
gamingdisputeattheWorldTradeOrganisation.
Thesenotwithstanding,effortstomaintain
stabilityoftheeconomiesarepayingoffinthe
region. Inthisregard,thedifficultbutcritical
workofdevelopingtheregionalregimefor
servicescontinuedin2012andIwouldliketo
highlightfiveareas.
During2012,CARICOMMemberStates
wereabletodistiltheelementsofaDraft
RegionalPolicyfortheProvisionofProfessional
ServicesintheCARICOMSingleMarketand
Economy(CSME)andextensiveconsultations
withtherelevantstakeholderswereheldinten
MemberStates. Amongotherthings,thisdraft
clearlydefinesaprofessional,makesprovision
forindependentregulationandoutlinesthe
requirementsandproceduresforregistration
andlicensing. Theprincipalobjectiveofthe
draftpolicyistofacilitatethefreemovement
ofprofessionalsintheCSMEaswellasto
harmonisethetreatmentofprofessionalsfrom
thirdcountries.
Thedatacollectionframeworkwasalso
strengthenedin2012. ACommonCoreTrade
inServicesQuestionnairewasdevelopedand
independentlypilot-testedbyAntigua and
Barbuda. Itwillberefinedandfurthertestedin
sixMemberStatesin2013. Itisexpectedthat
thisinstrumentwillenableCARICOMMember
Statestoreportmoredetailedandtimelydata
ontradeinservices. Theregional frameworkfor
servicesstatisticsremainsweakandneeds the
supportofboththepublicandprivate sectors.
Threeregionalconferenceswere convened:
TheSecondCARIFORUMInternational
ConferenceontheFinancialServices Sectorinthe
CaribbeanRegion(30-31August, 2012, Antigua
andBarbuda),CreativeIndustries (14 September,
Barbados)andtheRoundtableonPostal Sector
Reform(13-14November2012,Guyana)
respectively.Thesefacilitatedthe exchange of
experiencesonvariousaspectsofreformnow
takingplaceacrosstheglobeandthe preparation
oftargetedstrategiestorespondto the rapidly
evolvingexternalenvironment.
InthecaseofFinancialServices, delegates
examinedindetail,theemerging frameworkof
governanceofinternationalfinance, the factors
drivingsuccessinsmallfinancial centres,
reviewednon-taxmodelsthatcouldbe appliedto
theregionandconsideredtheelements ofa new
architectureforthesector.
In the case of Creative Industries, one of
the outputs was a framework to develop a
preliminary data set on the industry which
would facilitate proper planning to harness its
full potential.
Prime
Minister
Hon. Dr. W. Baldwin Spencer
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and Lead
Head for Services in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet
From the Desk of the
message

NegotiationswiththeEuropeanUniononthe
fundingoftheregionalservicesworkprogramme
havebeenadvancedandarenowexpected
tobecompletedbyyearend. Workonthe
preparationoftheRegionalStrategicPlansfor
FinancialServices,ICT,ProfessionalServices,
EducationServices,TourismServices,Healthand
WellnessServicesandCultural,Entertainment
andSportingServicesarethereforeexpectedto
commenceinJanuary2013andcompletedby
December2014. Workisalreadyintraininthe
areasofICT,CreativeIndustriesandProfessional
Servicesandweshouldreapanearlyharvestin
theseareasbyDecember2013.
Ourlaboursintheareaofprivatesector
strengtheningcontinuetobearfruit. The
GrenadaCoalitionofServiceIndustrieswas
launchedon29March2012andthisbringsthe
numberofcoalitionsintheCSMEtoten. These
coalitionsaresetupto,interalia;improvethe
region’sperformanceintradeinservices.
Iamconcernedthough,atthelevel of
privatesectorinvolvementduringthese difficult
economictimes. Threemajortradeinservices
agreementsareenforcedforCARICOMMember
States:theCSME;theGeneralAgreementon
TradeinServices(GATS)oftheWorldTrade
Organisation;andtheCARIFORUM-EU
EconomicPartnershipAgreement(EPA). Iamnot
convincedthattheprivatesectorofthe regionis
fullyutilizingtheseagreementstocreate jobs and
earnforeignexchange. Itakethisopportunity
tocallontheprivatesectortoseizethese
opportunities. Ifrestrictionsstillexistplease
bringthesetoourattention. Iassure thatwe will
findtheappropriatesolutions.
Prime Minister Hon. Dr. W. Baldwin Spencer
Antigua and Barbuda

SERVICES MATTER
The services sector plays an integral role in the
functioning of any modern economy:
• From the important social role that health
and education services play in affecting the
quality of life and skills of the labour force,
• to the essential basic infrastructure created
by construction, telecommunications,
financial and energy services,
• to the invaluable role transportation
services play in supporting the traditional
manufacturing and agricultural sectors,
• as well as the value professional services
impart in enhancing the competitiveness of
any business
– the services sector is the cornerstone of all
economic activity.
Recent statistics show that the services sector
accounted for almost 71% of global GDP
in 2010 and is expanding faster than either
the agriculture or manufacturing sectors.
Employment in services surpassed that of
agriculture in 2001; about 60% of men and
SERVICES MATTER
70% of women were employed in service
industries in 2010.
Yet while the services sector of Caribbean
countries continues to grow in line with these
trends, trade in services comprises only a very
small portion of total international trade and
is concentrated largely in tourism.
Through the expansion of global markets
from increased openness across all sectors,
coupled with the context of the modern digital
economy, the importance of the services sector
has become even more profound. Effectively
all services have become potentially tradable
through the internet and supply and demand
has become global.
The foundation for actively developing
the services sector and supporting services
exports has been laid.
M. Hustler and D. Primack. 2012. Harnessing Services
Trade for Development: A Background and Guide on
Service Coalitions in Africa and the Caribbean. Toronto:
ILEAP (Background Brief No. 22)

SERVICES MATTER
Do We Really
Understand
the EPA?
By Lisa Cummins
Barbados Coalition of Service Industries
Concluded in 2008, the Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the
CARIFORUM and European Union (EU)
states remains largely unimplemented.
The possible explanations for the non-implementation will inevitably lead to the
question of whether we understand the Agreement.
The question of ‘understanding’ is challenged first by the non-implementation of the
provisions of the Agreement, particularly our obligations - but if we consider that the
region is persistently challenged with implementation in most areas, this point becomes
less indicative of our level of understanding. It is quite possible that the EPA is just one in
a long series of issues that we have moved slowly on.
The more pertinent question to consider is, do we
understand the larger picture? Do we appreciate the
market dynamics driving global trade and our place in
that context? Do we have the kind of private sector led,
state sponsored, organized aggression that characterizes
the trade and commercial policy of most successful trading
nations, which in turn gives rise to innovation, market
penetration and expansion of our goods and services? I
would suggest we don’t.
For the first time in our history, we have negotiated
and concluded a reciprocal, preferential trade agreement.
The EPA has been the first true test of our ability to
handle our own without the covering of non-reciprocity.
However, to date it is clear that we still don’t speak the
same language of our successful competitors. The way
in which we do business needs to change. Our current
perception of business is a major hindrance and the EPA
remains a casualty of our historical outlook on business
and competitiveness.
The Caribbean countries have to undergo, at all levels,
a mindset shift that allows us to compete in a global
market place with players who have been on the world
stage for decades. The length of time it takes to make a
decision in the region is far behind the world’s fast paced
economies. A bureaucracy that doesn’t quite understand
private sector activity complicates the ease of doing
business. The reverse is the case for a private sector which
is often woefully unaware of the policy environment within
which they must function.
All combined, we have a public and private sector
that genuinely wants to do business and trade with our
partners but needs significant structural and attitudinal
change in order to operate at a level that is required to
reach and maintain global competitiveness.
Additionally, we have a foundational deficiency that
we need to address. Our economies are made up largely
of micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMES)
which constitute the bulk of domestic production and
employment.This is the group with the greatest potential
to use the EPA and therefore must occupy our attention.
But most MSMEs are not exporting to the EU. Most
MSMEs are not versed in international trade and lack the
capital to hire the human resources in this area.
At the negotiation phase, although national
consultations were held, there is no real indication that
MSMEs had sufficient information or knowledge to
articulate their interests, offensive and defensive, even
through their business support organisations. In contrast,
the larger firms were already exporting to the EU and were
intimately involved in the negotiation of the agreement.
...do we
understand
the ‘larger
picture’?

SERVICES MATTER
A Refresher
The example of rum comes to mind immediately as a
highly organized, focused and knowledgeable special
interest group. There can be no question that they
understand both the market and the Agreement and have
successfully protected their defensive interests while
securing offensive ones.
Now that we are implementing the agreement, the
same challenge remains.
It is into this gap that development support must
become a priority for business support organisations and
government in an effort to bring MSMEs to where they
can be fully integrated into the region’s export thrust. The
Agreement contains a range of support measures designed
to develop the capacity to trade.The region has also
signed three financial agreements with the EC (European
Commission) in support of regional integration to enable
the CARIFORUM states to meet their commitments
and make the most of the Agreement itself.These areas
include fiscal reforms, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)
measures, trade in services, the removal of technical
barriers to trade as well as capacity building.
This developmental process should be our first step
into utilizing the Agreement particularly for MSME’s.
Some of this is already happening but we still need to go
much further and faster. The mindset shift that is required
can be a part of this development support as we expose
both our policy makers, negotiators, private sector support
organisations and business persons to best practices, the
speed of doing business in more competitive economies
and a business culture that spawns competitiveness.
These are among the factors that will allow for the
utilization of the EPA and any other subsequent trade
agreement which the region signs either with traditional
and particularly with non-traditional partners.
The
Caribbean
countries
have to
undergo, at
all levels,
a mindset
shift that
allows us
to compete
in a global
market
place with
players
who have
been on
the world
stage for
decades.
What is a
Services
Export?
By Tanya Chase-Henry,
Dominica Coalition of Service Industries
The export of services comprises all services
rendered by residents of a country to non-residents
of the respective country. The World Trade
Organization (WTO) in its General Agreement on
Trade and Services (GATS) defines and classifies
services exports using a four-pronged approach. A
service is exported when it is supplied in one or more
of the following ways:
Mode 1: Cross Border Supply-Theexportof
servicescomprisesallservicesrenderedbyresidentsofa
countrytonon-residentsoftherespectivecountry.
Example-theprovisionofmedicaltranscription
servicesbyacompanybasedinAntigua,viatheinternet,
foramedicalfacilitylocatedintheUnitedKingdom.
Mode 2: Consumption Abroad - the domestic
service supplier provides a service in the domestic
market to a non-resident consumer. In this case, the
service consumer has moved into another country to
obtain a service.
Example–aresidentofBarbadosvisitingDominica
toreceivetherapeuticmassageservicesfromalocalspa.
Mode 3: Commercial Presence-aservice
providerestablishesabusinessinanoverseasterritory
toprovideservicestheoverseaslocation. Inotherwords,
theserviceproviderestablishesaterritorialpresence,
bymeansofownershiporleaseofpremisesinanother
territory,otherthanhisbasecountry.
Example - a company legally registered in Saint
Lucia, offering accounting services, establishes
a branch in Germany to offer similar accounting
services to Germans.
Mode 4: Presence of Natural Persons-the
physicalmovementoftheserviceprovidertoprovidea
serviceinanothercountryonatemporarybasis.
Example - a management consultant who leaves
his resident country of Anguilla to work in Grenada
as a management consultant for a human resource
audit project.

SERVICES MATTER
Innovative Trade Policies for
These include initiatives to stimulate
investments in new technologies, improve the
business environment, secure market access,
ensure that the industry’s skills requirements
are met and provide access to financing,
particularly for SMEs.
The focus is understandable, goods account
for over 65% of EU’s exports, as well as 80% of
EU’s investment in research and development.
In CARIFORUM, however, manufacturing
continues to decline. This is not necessarily an
indication of an overall economic worsening in
the region. Many countries can stake a claim
to rising above the challenges that the global
economic meltdown has brought through the
force of their services sector.
Unfortunately,theeffortswithrespectto
the development of theservicessectortodate
have focusedalmost entirelyonthetourism
sector. Totrulyengendermeaningfulgrowth,
CARIFORUMgovernmentsmustpursueactive
considerationof theservicessectorasawhole,
includingthekeysubsectorsandplayersinthese
subsectors,investment initiatives,theappropriate
macroeconomicmodel,linkagesbetweenthe
sectorandotherregionalpriorityissuessuchas
environmentalsustainabilityandsoforth.
There is a need to formalize this sector
through the undertaking of foundational
initiatives such as an appraisal of the current
state of the sector, consultation with the
private sector, including a needs assessment,
establishing an inclusive micromanaged watch
By Andrea C Livingston-Prince,
Management Consultant, Business Works Limited
Service Exporters
and establishing a communication strategy to
ensure continuous dialogue amongst all relevant
parties.
The governmental challenge that would
be faced should such action be undertaken
is identified by the McKinsey Center for
Government in their October 2012 publication.
“A new era in public management is under
way. Governments everywhere confront major
demographic, technological and social change,
even as they must do more with less to ensure
their citizens' prosperity, health, and security.
To succeed, they must raise their institutional
intelligence and capabilities to bridge the public,
private, and nonprofit sectors in ways never
attempted before.”
Thepublicationhighlightstwocriticalpoints:
• The call for greater engagement and
empowerment of citizens and;
• The understanding that only systemic
change, as opposed to incremental reform,
will allow government to keep pace in a
rapidly changing world.
If we analyze the anatomy of these statements,
we will find that they call for a new
methodology in constructing our trade policy
reforms in order to enact maximum impact on
the services sector.
This new methodology should include
increased quality research, enhanced
communication mechanisms, reduced
formalized structures between the sectors
and the policy makers, improved use
of documentation tools ranging from
digital recorders to camcorders, enhanced
accountability mechanisms, deeper linkages
between policy and practice, increased dialogue
between stakeholders in systematic and
pragmatic way, increased linkages between
educational institutions and the service sector,
development of a wider network of research
practitioners, deeper and expanded role for a
research model within trade policy development
units of governments and development of an
ICT-based communication model for policy
development within the region.
Based on experience in managing a
management consulting firm for over 2 decades
and serving varied developing states, being
a member of the JamaicaTrade Adjustment
Team, serving the Small Business Association
of Jamaica and working with the Ministry of
ForeignTrade in Belize, I have devised four
trade policy shapers that I believe can propel the
services sector forward.
Services Network Policy (SNP):
The Services Network Policy would be
based on four pillars of engagement: the services
sector, the public sector, research initiatives and
investment forces. Key to this policy would
be a need for more deliberate and strategically
managed industrialized and science and
technology-based trade initiatives implemented
in-country. Examples of this would include the
revision of manufacturing processes, standards,
trends or farming technologies. The related
changes would create new skills, knowledge and
aptitudes and therefore immediately result in
service sector changes.
Within the construction industry, for
example, sewage treatment has seen recent
innovative introductions, however the sector is
The European Union, through the European
Commission, has recently proposed a number
of initiatives designed to enhance the
manufacturing sector.

SERVICES MATTER
dependent on imported experts and technicians.
The industry changes have not impacted the
supporting services sector.
The proposed policy would govern the
direction of trade agreements and would require
that regulations and procedures undergo deeper
qualitative analyses by the policy makers. A
consistent and well-mangedTrade Adjustment
Team devoted to the sector would be required for
this policy to reap optimal impact.
Competency- Led:
Sector Skill Councils are centers for sub-
sector development. The SSC is a country’s
method of strategically managing the
development and strengthening of a sector
through its people.This is especially important
as sectors may be easily undermined through
weakened offerings by its service providers.
The Competency-Led Policy considers
knowledge, attitude, aptitude and skills required
for service-providers and may place sector skill
councils at the helm of all policy development
for the service sectors.
Gender-Based Trade Policy (GTP)
The proposed GTP has its roots in
developing government sector policies and
regulations based upon gender roles. For
example, consider a matriarchal society where
adult females are the bread-winners of the
family, now consider the policies that would be
more effective in such a context.
The drawback to this proposal is its
exceedingly heavy reliance upon periodic
anthropological and economical statistical
research and analyses. Its advantage is its
relevance in nations and regions where there
is a heavy change in the population by gender,
e.g. decline of employable males over the age of
18. Though research in and of itself is valuable,
the type, quality and analysis of the research
is critical to the success/relevance of a policy.
Metrics such as gender trends must always be
incorporated into small states’ management
research, policies and regulations.
Body of Knowledge Focused
The final proposal for a service sector
focused trade policy would be the BOK. This is
so named for its heavy focus on implementation
based upon the uniqueness of each Body of
Knowledge.
Examples might include fields such as
Geology, Anthropology and Sociology (culture),
Technology - Management Information Systems
(MIS),Technology – Engineering, Mechanical
andThought Systems, Aeronautical and
Aerospatial and Industrialisation.
These fields’ local and international body
of knowledge would serve to drive, support
and offer support to the service sectors.This
would generally include training, consulting,
value-added product design, marketing
and development, process and strategy
design support, project development, project
management, programme support, business
start-up, product development, network
management, etc. Stimulation would take place
by implementing strategic management and
oversight machineries that leverage measures
which incorporate incentives to local and foreign
investors through trade mechanisms.
Sustainability
It is important for us to bear in mind that
being small makes us more vulnerable to
climate change issues. Greater and improved
management of climate change creates the
opportunity for numerous new industries and
professions for states. These may be driven
by specialized experience within existing
roles, new and advanced training, professional
certification, research findings, applied
creativity, compliance with international
standards, local standards development
processes and creativity, general innovation and
strategic response to cultural forces.
This multi-virate would have an
accompanying benefit of increasing education
and linkages between the state and the global
and regional agenda, thereby increasing the
quality and level of information about climate
change on both urban and rural communities.
These policies would attract investment,
strengthen governance, broaden reach and
improve and increase impact, what else could
our small states want?

SERVICES MATTER
By Lucilla Lewis,
ICMS Ltd.
We all know that the
services sector is a
major contributor
to economic activity
globally.
In this global framework, Caribbean
countries continue to identify the services
sector as a key contributor to sustainable
economic growth. This increasing significance
of and dependence on services in the region is
attributable to several factors including:
• An expanding global inclination of cross-
border trade in services ushered in by
information communication technology
(ICT);
• The development of a conceptual
framework under the World Trade
Organisation’s (WTO), General Agreement
on Trade in Services (GATS) with rules
and guidelines for regulating international
trade in services;
• As a result of technological developments
and GATS, a trend has been established
for the inclusion of services in free
trade agreements (FTAs) negotiated
within and among trading blocs – in the
Caribbean, the CARICOM Single Market
and Economy (CSME), the European
Commission (EC) CARIFORUM
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA),
the Caribbean Canada Agreement
(CARIBCAN), the Caribbean Basin
Initiative (CBI) with the United States of
America (USA), as well as several other
FTAs entered into with trading blocs in
Latin America;
• Loss of preferential market access for
traditional exports and the need for
economic diversification;
• Evidence of the Caribbean region’s
comparative advantage as a supplier of
tourism services and the perception of
strong growth potential of other services.
Tourism services have served as the
primary contributing sector in the
economies of several CARICOM Member
States. In recent years, more Member
Statisticsfor Services Development
Trade in Services
You can’t manage what you can’t measure

SERVICES MATTER
States have transitioned from a dependence
on banana, sugar, rice and other primary
exports to tourism as well. Private and
public sector stakeholders in the region,
donors and friendly Governments have
invested substantial levels of resources in
product development and capacity building
in this sector.
These investments over the years
however, have not paid enough attention
to development of the statistical database
to measure the impacts of the sector. The
situation is that, while most countries
compile arrival statistics and rough
estimates of direct expenditure by tourists,
the information on direct and indirect
employment, revenue accruing to Central
Government, ownership and financing profile
of the sector, etc. is very sparse. The result
is that policy and investment plans for the
sector are being designed and implemented
with inadequate and incomplete statistical
information. For that matter, very few
Member States compile the Tourism Satellite
Accounts (TSA) to capture a more holistic
assessment of the impacts of tourism on
sustainable economic development.
The situation gets worse when it comes
to measuring impacts of the other services
identified by the region to have strong
growth potential, especially within the
FTAs being entered into. In this regard, a
cursory review of statistical publications
by Member States reveals that in the
external accounts, in most cases, data is
not available for cultural and entertainment
services, professional business services,
construction services or charges for use of
intellectual property.
This scenario poses challenges, it also
presents an opportunity.
The post WTO GATS trading
environment has ushered in increasing
demand for statistics on trade in services
which has resulted in the rolling out of
an integrated framework with conceptual
guidelines to guide countries globally in the
compilation of statistics on international
trade in services. In this regard, the first
Manual on Statistics of International Trade
in Services (MSITS) was published by the
UN in 2002 with the revised Version MSITS
2010 published in 2011.
The Caribbean region is therefore
presented with an internationally endorsed
framework within which to develop and
These statistics
would also
serve as a vital
tool to agencies
involved in
regulating and
facilitating
foreign
investment
and to trade
negotiators in
the preparation
of negotiations
of FTAs.

SERVICES MATTER
compile statistics on international trade in
services to better profile, measure, quantify
and forecast the services activities which
are increasingly being targeted as key
growth and development engines. MSITS,
by listing compilation activities in order
of priority and providing a metadata
section, allows countries to implement
recommendations within their resource
constraints and to address any country
customization necessary in the metadata.
The pace at which this opportunity
will be seized by countries will depend, as
MSITS envisages, on resource availability,
but also, in the view of the author of this
article, on the level of appreciation by
stakeholders, especially policy makers
in the public sector and data providers
across sectors, of the importance of
statistical information in business, policy
and development planning. It is those
two factors which challenge the region’s
ability to adopt the MSITS framework for
better measuring the impact of services on
sustainable economic development.
Central Statistical Offices (CSOs) which
are already pushed to their limits compiling
basic economic statistics – national
accounts, consumer price indices, trade
statistics, the balance of payments in some
cases in collaboration with the Central
Banks, have increasingly been assigned
responsibility for compilation of social
statistics in the context of the 2015 target
for achieving the Millennium Development
Goals, are now required, with little or
no additional resources in most cases, to
compile statistics on international trade in
services within the MSITS framework.
The MSITS framework involves:
• Compilation of the Extended
Balance of Payments Services
Classification (EBOPS). This
is generally compiled in
collaboration with the Central
Banks. EBOPS is a more detailed
presentation of the Services
Account of the Balance of
Payments (BOP);
• Compilation of statistics on
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
inflows and outflows e.g loan
capital, equity capital, interest,
dividends and reinvested
earnings. In some cases this is
compiled in collaboration with
the Central Banks as some of
the flows of FDIs are already
captured in the BOP;
• Compilation of Foreign Affiliates
Statistics (FATS). FATS are
FDIs which are more that 50%
foreign owned and it is the
vehicle through which most of
the capital movements within
and between trading blocs
is expected to occur. MSITS
recommends the following
priorities, among the other FATS
variables to be compiled, based
on Standard Industrial Trade
Classifications (SITC):
• Employment
• Value added
• Exports of goods and services
• Imports of goods and services
• Number of Enterprises
• Compilation of statistics on
the GATS 4 Modes of Supply.
Clearly, the above statistics if
compiled would provide much needed
information for policy making and
development planning in services dependent
economies. These statistics would also
serve as a vital tool to agencies involved in
regulating and facilitating foreign investment
and to trade negotiators in the preparation of
negotiations of FTAs.
The current baseline with respect to
availability of statistics on international
trade in services in the region, to be used
to inform design of sector strategies,
negotiations and assessments of FTAs,
and growth and development planning, is
grossly deficient despite past initiations
led by the CARICOM Secretariat and
supported by donor agencies including
CIDA, USAID and the EU. These efforts
need to be better complemented by efforts
at a national level if results achieved
are to be sustained. Discussions of
national budgetary allocations to the
Central Statistical Offices in Member
States must therefore be held within the
context of ensuring that these offices are
adequately resourced to sustainably deliver
on their increasing mandate to produce
statistics on which efficient development
planning and effective implementation
of development strategies rely. Without
statistics on international trade in services
our assessment of the impacts of FTAs is
greatly limited!

SERVICES MATTER
By Shalisha Samuel
Brown Mint Productions Inc.
The business with
the foresight and
vision to use their
intellectual property
(IP) assets as a means
to propel their service
or product have even
greater prospects for
success and longevity.
What is IP?
IP is an idea that has been transformed into
sight, touch, sound and even smell which
when protected under law, grants exclusive
rights to the creator/owner.
The painting in your head is simply an
idea; the painting on a canvas may be your
personal property, but like any other personal
property, it can be taken/used without
your permission. The painting on canvas,
once exclusive rights are granted, is your
intellectual property. Intellectual property
grants legal ownership of intangible assets.
“Intellectual”becauseitisthecreationofyour
intellectand“property”becauseitlegallybelongs
tothecreator/owner.
In our knowledge-driven society, IP are
intangible assets that are highly valued while
tangible assets such as machinery rapidly
devalues over time. The first generation iPod
has a low selling rate, but ownership in the
iPod trademark has a high value.
The below beehive graph lists a number of
IP categories. A product/service can attain
protection in one or more of these areas. The
length of protection varies according to the
type of protection. Always bear in mind that
these rights also vary according to jurisdiction,
therefore, due diligence and research is
paramount on your part as a business owner
exploring new markets. A simple way of
understanding the sub-categories is with
association of well-known products or services.
How and Why to protect
Your Intellectual
Property
A Focus on
Branding

SERVICES MATTER
After viewing the beehive graph the below definitions should be easy to understand. Each
protection grants an exclusive right to the creator to use/commercialise and to prohibit the
unauthorized use by others.
How is IP relevant to my Business?
Businesses typically incorporate IP into their
strategy and vision as the business matures or
as a response to IP losses:
• a former employee is now bottling a pepper
sauce that tastes just like yours because
they know your secret ingredient (trade
secret);
• a former freelance graphic artist is now
selling your client’s artwork because
she believes it is her right (copyright/
trademark/industrial design)
Could these examples happen to you?
How can a Trademark bring Growth to
my Business?
Trademark: A Trademark is a sign or
combination of signs (word, letters, design,
logo) that distinguishes a product or service
from others to avoid confusion and to
increase recognition and competitiveness. It
prevents others from selling or distributing
a product or offering a service with a similar
trademark that can mislead buyers. In filing
your application, you must select the class
of protection by firstly identifying whether
your business provides goods or services and
then selecting from the list in each category.
Do you sell furniture (trademark) or do you
simply set up furniture (servicemark)?
Copyright: Protects literary and artistic
works (books, films, songs etc.) and
computer/software programmes. Term
of protection is life of author +50 years
after death (in U.S.A and Europe it is +70
years after death).
Trademarks: Protects distinctive signs
(words, letters, designs, logos) used to
identify a product or service. Term of
protection is 10 years in most countries
but can be renewed indefinitely. Failure
to use a trademark can result in it being
an obsolete/dead mark.
Patents: Protectsnewandinnovative
productsorprocesses.Termofprotectionis
20years.
Industrial Designs: Protects the
physical/aesthetic appearance of a
product. Protection is offered initially for
5 years, which can be renewed up to at
least 10 years. Countries can therefore
offer renewals up to 10 or 25 years
for example – please check your local
legislation/IP Office.
Geographical Indications: Protects
products originating from a particular
region/country in which factors unique
to the production in the region/country
(climate, soil or special skills of the
people) speaks to the quality of the
product. Examples are Cognac from
Cognac, France; Scotch whisky from
Scotland and; Parmigiano-Reggiano
(parmesan cheese) originating from a
few select regions in Italy. This type of
protection is offered on a collective and
not an individual basis and therefore does
not belong to a person or firm.
Geographical
Indication:
Champagne from
the Champange
region in France
Trademarks: TIDE/
VISA/Clarks/
Tylenol
Copyright:
Books/Films/
Isaac Blackman's song
“Jumping up to the
Ceiling”
Industrial Design:
Volkswagen
Beetle/iPad/
Coca-Cola bottle
Trade Secret:
WD-40/Google's
search algorithm/
KFC/Coca-Cola
formula
Patents:
Apple store's
staircase/iPhone/
mp3 player/
breastfeeding
shirts

SERVICES MATTER
3-Step Trademark Strategy
in Starting or Strengthening Your Business
01 Business Name/Registration
Your business name could ultimately be your trademark, therefore,
thorough consideration of the name is critical in building your
brand. Online research for checking whether your desired business
name is not already in use is usually the first step. You can also
visit the websites of countries that have online trademark databases
such as the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
to carry out a simple search. The World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) also has an online database of trademarks
that were registered internationally under the Madrid System.
Additionally, translate the name, if possible, in other languages
and dialects to avoid a business name that is offensive or the cause
of stares and laughs. Chevrolet, for example, had trouble marketing
their Nova vehicle in Latin America, because “no va” in Spanish
means “it doesn’t go”.
Names incorporating the name of a town or neighbourhood
may limit your reach to trade internationally. Once you have
developed a brand in your home base, it is wise to continue
using this brand, as you would otherwise have to rebuild brand
recognition and regain customers.
Once you feel confident that your business name is unique, you
can register the business name and receive approval. Please note
that your registered corporate name does not have to be your
brand or the name known to consumers. You can start a company,
“John Smith Investments Inc.” listing the sale of aromatherapy
products as the nature of the business. JSI Inc. could own the
trademarks to the various essential oil brands and products. If the
brand fails, the company survives and creates another brand!
02 Logo
Avoid similar colour
schemes, fonts, sizes and
shapes as your competitor.
Any design that may cause
confusion would be difficult
to register. Conduct
research in prospective
markets abroad. It would
be obvious to some why a
fast food restaurant should
avoid entering the Barbados
market with a purple and
yellow colour scheme.
As an entrepreneur, you
should have a vision for
your business. In two years
or three months, you may
want to export your product
or service to Canada but
if you, as an advertising
agency, bear the same or
very similar name/logo/
unique colour scheme to
an advertising agency in
Canada, there may be a
challenge in registration and
chances are, the exclusive
right to use the trademark,
would not be granted.
03 Website
Your domain name should
ideally be the same or at least
a shortened version, of your
brand/business name. Similar
to determining the name for
your business, you should visit
websites of domain name
providers to carry out a search
on whether the name is taken.
If your name is Junior and you
make the best cheesecake in
Dennery, St. Lucia, you won’t
be able to register www.
juniorscheesecake.com as your
domain name because the site
is owned by a company that
was established since 1950. A
website is an important tool
in promoting your brand/your
business name, and therefore
clearance should be made on
the availability of a domain
name prior to registering the
business name. The content on
your website is also protected
by copyright. Overall, be creative
– a unique name optimizes
search engine results and would
exclude unrelated results.
Some rules do apply
If you sell apples you cannot receive a
trademark approval for “Apples Incorporated”
because your company’s name cannot directly
describe your product. Secondly, if you are an
accountant, you cannot receive a trademark
approval for “Accountants Inc.” because
accounting is a general term that cannot be a
trademark. “Samantha’sYummy Apples” or
“Joy’s Accountancy Firm” are both acceptable
Trademarks however.
Trademarks are territorial (governed
by domestic laws); protection in Dominica
does not equate to protection in Grenada. If
you’re thinking ahead, you’ve guessed right
– if you want to be protected in Grenada as
well, you will have to visit the IP office there
and apply for trademark protection. The
Madrid System of WIPO provides a service
to countries in which businesses can select up
to 89 countries* where they seek to have their
trademark protected. Antigua and Barbuda
is currently the only regional member of the
Madrid Union, which allows for international
registration of marks.
Registering your trademark locally usually
involves registration, search, publication,
agent and other fees. Call your local
intellectual property office for a breakdown of
the procedures and costs involved.
Move Beyond Protection to
Commercialization
Protection is the first phase of engaging
your business with IP, but for it to stimulate
growth, your IP should be commercialized.
You can exploit the rights of a new device you
developed by applying for and being granted
a patent and then making the device available
for sale, for example. Alternatively, you may
license your new technology or smartphone
application to a company with the budget
to market and sell the product. If you’re a
songwriter, you may license the use of the
songs you wrote to a record label. A similar
method is applied to well-developed brands

SERVICES MATTER
that are franchises, for example Starbucks,
Days Inn, Subway or KFC, where a franchise
fee is paid for the use of the brand.
Inessence,awell-managedIPportfoliomakes
yourbusinessmoreattractivetoinvestors,as
revenueisexpectedtoflowfromtheexploitation
ofthecompany’sintangibleassets.
Take Action!
Have the conversation today with yourself,
your mentor and your business partner(s)
today to identify the IP assets of your
company and determine how to protect
them. Protection of assets is the first phase
of a company incorporating IP in their
business strategy, Maintenance involves the
use of the brand and payment of renewal
fees. Exploitation for commercialization is
the optimal goal. Be mindful of the vision
you have for the company and embrace
the usefulness of acting now to establish a
foundation for a competitive and sustainable
business.
*TheMadridUnionhas89memberstatesasof
November15,2012.

SERVICES MATTER
Should've
Could've
but Didn't:
Failure to
Protect IP
Caribbean Examples
of Demerara Sugar
of Guyana and
the Steel Pan of
Trinidad & Tobago
Demerara
Sugar
Two well-known cases touch upon the
“Demerara” name, although neither case
arose as a direct result of IP infringement.
In Anderson v Britcher (U.K, 1913)1
sugar
from Mauritius was sold as Demerara
sugar originating from Demerara, Guyana.
The buyer argued it was not genuine sugar
from Demerara, however the court ruled
that “Demerara” is a generic term used to
describe brown, crystalised sugar made
from sugar cane and bears no indication to
the region in Guyana.
In the second case of Bedessee Imports
Ltd. v Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc.
(Canada, 2010)2
, Bedessee Imports Ltd.,
packaged and distributed sugar made in
Mauritius under the brand “Demerara
Gold”, a Bedessee’s registered trademark
“since at least 1984”3
, while another sugar
was packaged with the map of Guyana.
When the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc.
(Guysuco) sought to register the trademark
“Demerera Gold” in Canada, Bedessee
filed an opposition and then submitted an
application for registration of the same
name, which was later opposed by the
Government of Guyana. Guysuco withdrew
from the application process. Following this,
the Government of Guyana (Minister of
Agriculture, et al) then made, what Bedessee
considers to be, defamatory statements. The
case therefore is one relating to defamation
and diplomatic immunity in which the court,
including the appellate court, dismissed
Guyana’s claim to immunity thereby
allowing Bedessee to file a suit against the
Minister.
If steps were made years ago from
producers in Guyana and the Government
for a geographical indication (GI), the
more recent 2010 Canadian case may have
resulted differently. There still exists hope
By Shalisha Samuel
Brown Mint Productions Inc.
Demerara Sugar of
Guyana and the Steel
pan of Trinidad and
Tobago are great
Caribbean examples
of the importance of
prompt Intellectual
Property (IP)
protection.

SERVICES MATTER
Steel Pan
A patent application was filed by, and
granted, in 2001 to Hydro Steel LLC
for using the hydroform press to mass
produce steelpans in the United States.
The patent on the process of making
the steelpan was later challenged by the
Government of Trinidad and Tobago
and revoked by the United States
Patent Trademarks Office (USPTO), a
success for Trinidad and Tobago. The
process was previously developed by
a research team at the University of
the West Indies where, accordingly, the
researchers claimed that an application
for a patent was not submitted due
to a lack of finances and concern that
the patent process was too complex.5
Trinidadian steelpan producers can
therefore continue with innovations
of the steelpan and quite possibly,
someday, be granted patents on these
improvements.
BLACK BELLY
SHEEP
While the commercial use of the
Black Belly sheep's name has not
been subject to legal proceedings,
protecting and promoting the name in
trade would be an ideal Government
strategy for Barbadian businesses.
Some groups have already laid claim
to the Black Belly Sheep, therefore,
challenges to any form of registration/
protection should not be surprising.
Needless to say, IP protection
of the Black Belly sheep would
undoubtedly position entrepreneurs
in the manufacturing and even service
sectors to differentiate their offerings
in the global market.
5
“Intellectual property issues strike at the
heart of the steelpan”. July 31, 2011.
Dr. Kris Rampersad, The Guardian
(Trinidad and Tobago). Accessed October
11, 2012. <http://www.guardian.
co.tt/entertainment/2011/07/31/
intellectual-property-issues-strike-heart-
steelpan>
for Guysuco, as neither of the above cases
dealt directly with “Demerara” as a protected
word/brand. Therefore, attempts can be
made for “Demerara” to be protected as a
GI, collective mark, or even a trademark by
altering the name; “Demerara of Guyana”,
“Guyanese Demerara”, “Demerara Sugar”
or “Guyana’s Demerara Sugar” are some
examples. Furthermore, Camembert de
Normandie was said to be a generic term
according to a French court in 1926, but is
now protected in France and the EU.4
1
Anderson v. Britcher 30 T. L. R. 78 (1913), 34
Cox’s Criminal Law Cases 60
2
Bedesse Imports Ltd v. Guyana Sugar
Corporation Inc., 2010 ONSC 3388
3
Bedessee Imports Ltd. v. Guyana Sugar
Corporation, Inc., 2010 ONSC 3388. para. 17.
4
Gangjee, Dev Saif, Demerara Sugar: A
Bitter Pill to Swallow? (December 1, 2011).
Intellectual Property Journal, Vol. 24, p. 1,
2011. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/
abstract=2029290

SERVICES MATTER
Annual
Services
Week5
th
By Michelle Hustler, GIZ
The Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Service
Industries hosted its fifth annual services week
from October 29 to November 2, 2012.
Having now attended three of these five
events, it’s quite clear that the activity is
bigger, better attended and more impressive
with each consecutive year.
Professor Miguel Carillo, Executive
Director of Arthur Lok Jack Graduate
School of Business, joked during the opening
ceremonies, at the Excellence in Service
Awards, that he looks forward to the day
when the event more closely resembles the
Grammys. Knowing the TTCSI, as I do, it
may not be that many more years before I’m
ushered down the red carpet to my seat in a
blaze of flashing photographs.
For those of you who missed it, I’ll do my
best to summarize this important, dynamic,
week-long trade in services event, covering
four sub-sectors, an industry awards show
and an exciting closing event in the four pages
allotted to this article in the Scoop, however,
it really would be a much easier feat to simply
have all the readers attend next year’s event,
than it would to compose a thorough four page
summary of Services Week.
Excellence in Service Awards
As I greeted the TTCSI staff at the door
to the ballroom, my first impression was
that the event certainly had the vibe of an
awards ceremony. In true Caribbean fashion,
attendees and prospective awardees were
dressed to the nines. Drinks were being
served by attentive staff. The crowd buzzed.
Promptly at 6:30pm, as scheduled, the
event was underway.
This year, like the last, there were seven
awards categories, including a ‘Special Award’,
awarded last year to Anya Ayoung-Chee,
season 9 winner of Project Runway. This
year the ‘Special Award’ went to Roger Al the
creator of I'm Santana: the Movie, the highest
grossing feature film produced in Trinidad and
aYouTube viral hit. If you haven’t yet caught
this Trini puppet drama… well, go on, I’ll wait
Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Service Industries

SERVICES MATTER
for you here… Hilarious, ent?!
Other awardees include Mamatoto
Resource and Birth Centre and the
Association of Female Executives of
Trinidad and Tobago (see page 29 for the
full list of winners).
A common message of the awardees and
attendees was how pleased they were to
see kudos being offered in this critical, but
commonly overlooked sector.
Unleashing ICT for Development
Day 2’s workshop, Unleashing ICT for
Development was the best attended event of
the week with over 250 participants. It’s a
little wonder why. The keynote speaker was
Mr. Annesh Chopra, the former American
Federal Chief Technology Officer of the
United States, who answered directly to
President Barak Obama.
Not only is Mr. Chopra highly
knowledgeable, but charismatic, engaging
and (can I say?) cool as well. Comedian John
Stewart, of the Daily Show, described him
quite accurately during a 2009 episode as ‘The
Indian George Clooney’.
The packed house was rapt. Chopra,
through numerous examples, highlighted the
power of ICT for development. He discussed
three trends: Digital Infrastructure, Open
Government and Innovation Platforms and
how the amalgamation of these three elements
can result in unlimited growth potential.
His presentation is available on the CNSC
site, but I’ll offer one example.
In the immediate aftermath of the Haiti
earthquake, the US State Department
worked with a group of engineers from the
tech community to launch a free SMS relief
information service to help people in Haiti.
The text message program allowed people in
Haiti with cell phones to text their location and
their needs to a free short code: "4636" (INFO).
Using an open-source platform the texts were
accessible globally linking the ‘listeners’ – those
translating the texts from French Creole into
English – to the helpers – those who were able
to respond to the needs. They fielded 50,000
messages, each one taking approximately 10
minutes from the time sent to dispatch.
A great example of how the infrastructure,
plus the innovative platform, in addition to
harnessing widely dispersed talent can make a
tremendous difference.
Cosmetology Workshop: The
Importance of Standards and Raising
Your Game
I sat at a front table before the workshop
began, writing the bit on the Aneesh Chopra
presentation, hardly lifting my eyes from
the laptop. I paid no attention to the bustle
of participants settling at tables around me,
waiting for TTCSI’s Executive Director, Mr.
Nirard Tewarie to take the mic and begin the
day’s proceedings. It was only finally during
these opening remarks that I took the occasion
to survey the room.
Oh. My.

SERVICES MATTER
Two simultaneous thoughts struck me at once:
1. How was the TTCSI able to fill and entire
ballroom (there must have been 200+
people in the room) with a sector generally
concerned with the creative elements of the
profession and the day-to-day demands of
making women beautiful?
As a former manager of a service coalition
myself, I had not known the sector to come
together in such large numbers to discuss the
more technical aspects of cosmetology, such
as setting standards, drafting legislation
and building a vibrant association – topics
being discussed that morning. I was equally
impressed with the TTCSI’s ability to interest
so many cosmetologists in the event, as I was
with the commitment of these cosmetologists
to this sector.
2. I should have worn lipstick.
Yup. The room was not only full, but full
of fashionably dressed, beautifully made
up women. Hair, nails, makeup – looking
around the room, it seemed clear to me,
that this sector knew its ply well.
The keynote speaker was Mr. Guy Hewitt,
Regional Manager of City & Guilds
Caribbean. City & Guilds is a world leading
vocational education organization. The
company develops internationally recognized
standards, offers training and certification.
Mr. Hewitt discussed the importance of
standards both generally and specifically to
this sector. By the response in the room, it
seemed clear that all were in favor of coming
together, establishing standards and working
through the recently strengthened Trinidad
and Tobago Cosmetology Association in
building a vibrant sector.
Trinidad has this way of making
everything exciting – even a workshop on
standards. A point was made at the ICT
event on Tuesday about “emphasizing
verbs over nouns”. Trinidad has certainly
transformed the noun ‘Carnival’ into a verb.
The workshop was punctuated by up-beat,
exciting hair, makeup and nail ‘fashion shows’
– including, in fact Carnival models!
TTCSI & AC12 FORUM:
'The Brain Gain'
Another element of Services Week I very much
appreciated was how the TTCSI was able to
repeatedly highlight and celebrate the success
of Trinidadians. Not only via the evident
celebrations associated with the Excellence in
Service Awards, but consistently throughout
the week. Perhaps the best example of the
celebration of excellence took place during the
Brain Gain workshop.
This workshop took the form of a panel
discussion involving six young, dynamic
Trinidadians involved in various aspects
of film making and gaming at the highest
international level. Digital artists, visual
effects compositors, animators, character
artists, software engineers, hailing from
companies like Lucas Film, Disney, Pixar and
Rockstar Games. They had worked on dozens
of movies like Preist, Narnia, FrankenWeenie,
Beowulf, Transformers and Dark Shadow.
All told a similar story of dreaming big,
following your passion, taking chances, being
innovative and working hard.
I hope TTCSI takes the opportunity to
share the success stories that emerged during
Services Week with the rest of the region.
These success stories are necessary. Perhaps
in consuming enough of them, Trinidad and
the Caribbean might one day overcome the
biggest barrier to trade… self-belief.
Entertainment as a Business
The final formal workshop of the week
featured Mr. Ray Paul, described in the
programme as ‘Music Business Legend’.
What Paul offered the audience, was
very specific and very informed advice on
penetrating the EU music industry. The
presentation is available online. All musicians
and music managers in the Caribbean should
review and consider the advice being offered.
SW12 Closing Party
The event closed with a joint Animae Caribe-
TTCSI closing party. There are a lot of areas
Trinidad clearly leads the region in and
throwing a great celebration is definitely one
of those areas.
Music, food and drinks and a fete
celebrating services and services excellence
(again, clear in the quality of the offerings of
the event) took participants late into the night.
I’m going to close with two piece of
advice, advice that is not news to me, but was
reinforced during the week’s events:
1. Caribbean service providers, believe in
yourself! With the multitude of examples
demonstrating excellence at regional and
international levels, there is no reason
to continue to believe that your service
cannot also be on par with international
champions. Just focus and go for it!
2. Don’t miss another Services Week.
Having attended every Services Week
activity over the past two years, whether it
was a session in fashion, cosmetology, ICT,
filmmaking, animation or entertainment,
I took home a valuable lesson that I can
apply to my own services company - so
will you.
See you next year.

SERVICES MATTER

SERVICES MATTER
Summit
Global Services
the “Really Good Friends of Services” (RGF)
group. Comprised of 20 WTO members, they
have been meeting since January 2012 and
laying the framework for the potential launch
of negotiations on an International Services
Agreement (ISA).
As he has done at previous Summits,
Ambassador Ron Kirk, the United States
Trade Representative made the opening
Keynote to the Summit. Afterwards, he
joined a panel of Ministerial level colleagues
from RGF and TPP member countries,
that included Honorable Ed Fast, Minister
for Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific
Gateway of Canada; Honorable Anabel
Gonzalez, Minister of Foreign Trade of
Costa Rica; Honorable Taeho Bark, Minister
for Trade of the Republic of Korea; and
Honorable Tim Groser, Minister of Trade
of New Zealand for a robust discussion on
the paths ahead for services negotiations.
Ambassador Kirk commented in his opening
address, "the ISA presents significant new
opportunities to examine the achievements
of services agreements so far; consolidate the
most important and effective elements into a
single framework; and extend that framework
to a broader group of countries. The ISA
also offers a means of building international
consensus on new trade rules that someday
could be introduced into the WTO."
Other ministers agreed with the sentiments
of Ambassador Kirk. Minister Anabel
Gonzalez of Costa Rica hailed the importance
of services trade liberalization, mentioning
the strong service chapters in Costa Rica's
over 50 Free Trade Agreements (FTA).
Moreover, that Costa Rica's IT services
exports have multiplied 9 fold in a decade,
surpassing tourism and that opening their
telecommunications and insurance sectors
have dramatically increased Costa Rica's
participation in the global value chains.
More broadly, Minister Bark commented
on the role of services in global economic
recovery, noting that we have international
debt problems, a global imbalance and a slow
but noticeable increase in protectionism and
the most effective way to combat this is to
make progress in liberalization. Bark said,
"keep the ball rolling with the ISA, TPP and
other liberalizations."
The Summit also convened a panel of
several senior trade officials from the RGF
group, where the panel discussed their
aspirations for such an agreement. As noted
by one of the panelists, the consensus that
emerged among the panelists through the
presentation was encouraging. Some example
characteristics of the ISA that panelists agreed
on are that it should be ambitious, have
additional market access provisions, allow for
other countries to join after it is completed,
and be completed within a year.
Further panels continued the discussion of
past summits on the importance of the Asia
Pacific economies and the 21st century issues
that services trade faces, such as state-owned
enterprises (SOEs), services' important role
The Summit brought together over 350
international trade policy leaders from
business, government, academia and media
from all over the world.
The focus for the 2012 Summit was
"Services: The New Agenda", highlighting
the growing recognition of the importance of
trade liberalization in services and investment,
as the world services sector comprises 70%
of the world’s GDP and roughly a similar
percentage of employment. 2012 has been
the year in which we have seen a growing
number of substantive services commitments
being negotiated such as in the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP), a trade agreement
involving the US, Brunei, Chile, New
Zealand, Singapore, Australia, Peru, Vietnam,
Canada, Malaysia and Mexico, as well as
the positive momentum in Geneva among
By James Lim
US Coalition of Service Industries
On September 19, 2012 at the Grand Hyatt,
Washington, D.C., the Coalition of Service
Industries of the US (USCSI) and its Global
Services Coalition (GSC) partners convened the
4th annual Global Services Summit (GSS).

SERVICES MATTER
in enabling the movement of goods in the
global value chain, forced localization and
restrictions on cross-border data flows.
A special presentation was also made
recognizing the achievements of retiring CSI
President, Bob Vastine and welcoming the
new President, Ambassador Peter Allgeier.
For summaries of the panels of the summit
and videos, visit: http://uscsi.org/about-csi/
global-services-summit-2012.
Following the Summit, the GSC convened
their annual business meeting and a special
seminar on the role of service coalitions
in developing countries. This seminar
was hosted at Microsoft Corporation's
Washington, D.C. office. Presentations
were made by Sebastien Saez, Senior Trade
Economist from the World Bank; Andrea
Lupo, US Trade and Development Agency;
David Primack, International Lawyers
and Economists Against Poverty; Rajesh
Sharma, Director General of the Services
Export Promotion Council of India; Nirad
Tewarie, CEO of the Carribean Network of
Service Coalitions; and Angela Becaty, East
African Business Council representative.
Asha Bobb-Semple, Jamaican Coalition
of Service Industries andYvonee Agard,
Saint Lucia Coalition of Service Industries
participated in the seminar. They spoke on the
challenges of creating service coalitions and
the opportunities they create to help economic
growth in developing countries.
The GSC is comprised of the Australian
Services Roundtable, Canadian Services
Coalition, Coalition of Services Industries
Malaysia, Coalition of Service Industries of
the US, the European Services Forum (ESF),
Hong Kong Coalition of Services Industries
(HKCSI), Japan Services Network, Mexican
Services Coalition, The National Association
of Software and Services Companies (India),
Taiwan Coalition of Service Industries, and
TheCityUK (United Kingdom).
They spoke on the
challenges of creating
service coalitions
and the opportunities
they create to help
economic growth in
developing countries.

SERVICES Coalitions
A service coalition is an organization of
stakeholders related to the services sector who
may have diverse interests, but nevertheless
share a common objective: the development of
the service industry.
A service coalition ultimately aims to
enhance the international competitiveness
of the services sector. It does this by raising
the profile of the services sector, supporting
the development of an enabling environment,
building private sector capacity and engaging
in export promotion activities, amongst many
other efforts.
Service Coalitions
In the Caribbean, there are actively
functioning coalitions in Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica,
Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Get
involved in the activities of your coalition
today! Contact details are on page 73. If
there is no coalition, help support the creation
of this valuable organization. Start by
speaking to service exporting champions and
the Ministry responsible for trade.
In this section, we explore what is
happening with the coalition movement in the
Caribbean and around the world.

SERVICES Coalitions
What is a service coalition and how do they differ in
developing countries?
A service coalition is an organization of stakeholders related to the
services sector who may have diverse interests, but nevertheless share
a common objective: the development of the service industry. The
aims of the stakeholders are seen to be more efficiently accomplished
through a coalition.
The coalition movement was first launched through the UK
Liberalisation of Trade in Services (LOTIS) Committee in late 1981,
followed soon thereafter by the US Coalition of Service Industries
(USCSI). Since then, new coalitions have been established in countries
throughout the world, with the Global Services Coalition (GSC) now
boasting more than 13 members worldwide.
LikeLOTISandUSCSI,mostdevelopedcountryservicecoalitions
focusonlobbyingandraisingtheprofileoftheservicessector. Theirefforts
traditionallyrevolvearoundthepromotionofservicesliberalization.
Service coalitions that are
currently evolving in developing
countries – such as sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) and the Caribbean
– offer an innovative channel for
micro and small services firms
to unlock the potential of the
services sector and foster inclusive
growth, sustainable development
and poverty reduction.
Service Coalitions:
An Overview of Experiences
in the Caribbean
and Africa
By Michelle Hustler, GIZ
& David Primack, ILEAP

SERVICES Coalitions
However, a slightly different model has
emerged in developing countries (starting
with Malaysia circa 2001) which focus on
developing the services sector in order to
be able to better take advantage of available
market access opportunities. In this respect,
service coalitions in developing countries have
the potential to offer a range of more robust
interventions. In doing so, they can serve
to augment and complement public sector
institutional roles, thereby helping to provide
essential support services for catalysing
dynamic entrepreneurial activity.
What are the challenges facing
domestic services firms in developing
countries?
Despite the vast potential of the services
sector, the challenges faced by developing-
country firms to harness them are numerous
and exacerbated by the endemic scarcity of
available and/or quality services data. Some
of the characteristics and challenges facing
domestic these services firms include:
• Fragmentation – firms are often
fragmented and small with little or no
representation across sectors;
• Lack of understanding – the service sector
is not well understood, including by
policymakers, politicians and the public-
at-large;
• Little influence – many services firms,
especially micro and small firms, often
have little political influence;
• Weak policy/regulatory environment
– emanating in part from the lack of
understanding, the policy and regulatory
environments are often quite weak,
especially when it comes to providing
targeted incentives to help develop the
sector domestically;
• Low access to affordable finance – the
limited capital base of these firms and
their inability to access affordable finance
is perhaps the single-most important
constraint on firm/sector growth (resulting
from the intangibility of services and
exorbitant interest rates);
• Low recognition – these firms also tend
to suffer from low brand recognition and
credibility;
• Poor market information – these firms
often suffer from an inability to readily
access critical information on overseas
markets.
How can service coalitions help?
Service coalitions can take a more proactive
role in helping to address many of the
challenges above. This can be done by
engaging in the following activities:
• Offering a unified voice on services issues
and helping to raise awareness. By serving
as a focal point on services, coalitions can
help to better articulate and disseminate
private sector needs and commercial
interests, as well as raise awareness
amongst a cross-section of stakeholders
(public and private, including the donor
community);
• Providing training to small and micro
enterprises, including sector-specific
associations;
• Advocating for policy and regulatory
reforms, trade negotiations, standards and
incentives;
• Assisting service providers to promote
and increase trade and exports, including
through the dissemination of information on
export opportunities and market intelligence,
supporting trade missions and fairs;
• Collecting data and offering award/
recognition programs.
Taking on such roles, coalitions can also
serve as an important conduit for targeting
development cooperation (or aid-for-trade)
resources towards the services sector.
Experiences in the Caribbean
The initial implementation of service
coalitions in the Caribbean proved more
difficult than expected. While floated as a
In this respect,
service coalitions
in developing
countries have
the potential to
offer a range
of more robust
interventions.

SERVICES Coalitions
concept for more than a decade prior, by early
2010 only four coalitions could have been
considered operational. One key obstacle
was the lack of awareness pertaining to
private sector needs vis-à-vis services policy,
negotiations and even trade promotion, and
thus the associated challenge of articulating
their own needs as well as generating public
sector buy-in. Another challenge emerged
due to assumptions about the relationships
coalitions would have with their national
Chambers of Commerce (which was not
always feasible). Lastly, the lack of adequate
and consistent funding for the coalitions
resulted in delays and a number of false starts.
Since late 2010/early 2011 however,
significant progress has been achieved in
the region. This includes the December
2010 inauguration of the Caribbean
Network of Service Coalitions alongside
the strengthening of existing coalitions in
Barbados, Saint Lucia, and Jamaica via
additional financial and human resources, as
well as the operationalization of coalitions
in Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica,
Grenada. Helping to underpin this
momentum has been varying combinations of
support from national governments, alongside
the Caribbean Export Development Agency,
GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale
Zusammenarbeit GmbH) and DFID’s
CARTFund (Caribbean Aid for Trade and
Regional Integration Trust Fund).
Experiences in Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA)
Experiences establishing service coalitions in
SSA remain at a preliminary stage (despite
also having been floated over a decade ago).
East and Southern Africa is perhaps most
advanced on this front, with Uganda serving
as the most commonly known coalition in the
region. With laudable achievements to-date,
the Uganda-CSI continues to face challenges
in shifting from ad-hoc activities and influence
to a more systemic role as a fully functioning
coalition. As in the initial Caribbean
phase, progress has been hampered by the
availability of financial resources, alongside
the political challenges of situating itself in the
existing landscape.
At a regional level, the East African
Business Council (EABC) has taken the lead,
collaboratively with the International Lawyers
and Economists Against Poverty (ILEAP),
to establish the East Africa CSI (EACSI).
Building on efforts in 2009 and 2010,
stakeholders outlined a road map for bringing
the coalition to fruition. While the full scope
of this effort has not yet garnered the financial
support needed to move into implementation,
results have been achieved in the context of
securing support to develop a Professional
Services Platform to be housed at EABC.1
As noted by stakeholders early in the process,
the Platform constitutes an essential stepping
stone to the formation of the EACSI.
Similar efforts are underway throughout
the continent – including (to name a few):
Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire,
Ghana, and South Africa. At a regional level,
the Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA) Business Council is also
advancing on its mandate to support the
formation of coalitions throughout COMESA.
Seen in this light, service coalitions in SSA
are emerging with the potential to serve as
an essential business support organisation,
helping to mitigate institutional deficiencies
across a range of interventions that might
otherwise be provided by the public sector
in developed countries. They also have the
potential to serve as innovative channels for
delivering aid-for-trade resources. Doing so
requires that stakeholders in SSA take heed
of the success factors in the Caribbean, as
well as development partners’ recognising the
different nature of coalitions and associated
support needs to facilitate their success.
This article is based on the ILEAP’s publication:
Harnessing Services Trade for Development: A
Background and Guide on Service Coalitions
in Africa and the Caribbean; available at www.
ileap-jeicip.org. An earlier version of this article
was previously published in BRIDGES Africa,
Vol 1 Issue 4.
1
Via TradeMark East Africa

SERVICE SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS
Antigua and Barbuda
The ABCSI was launched in February, 2011.
With a single staff member elaborating the
efforts of the organization, progress may be
slow, but it’s steady.
The most recent successes of the ABCSI
include efforts in the establishment of an
ICT association, capacity building sessions
for those in the film and video sector, as
well as support to the fashion sector via
the co-hosting of Kreyol Fashion Days.
The organization will continue to drive the
country’s priority sectors forward.
The ABCSI maintains an active Facebook
Group for ongoing discussions on the national
services sector. Join the conversation!
Barbados
Having worked assiduously on the
organizational strategy in 2012 (read all
about it on page 38), the BCSI is now leading
the process of developing a national service
sector development strategy and export
promotion plan, which will include an asset
mapping database for service providers. The
first national steering committee meeting in
this respect has taken place and efforts will
continue throughout 2013.
Some other 2012 BCSI activities included a
grant proposal writing workshop, the creation
of a professional development opportunity
(Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED)) for those in the construction
sector, export and funding workshops for
those in the creative industry and EPA
awareness building workshops.
Belize
The Belize Coalition of Service Providers
is the eighth actively functioning coalition,
having set up earlier this year. During a
short, busy period the BCSP has hired an
executive director and support staff, secured
an office space, set up and are raring to go.
Firstactivitiesplannedinvolvethe
developmentofaservicesectordatabase,
undertakingabaselinesurvey,andthehostingof
aServicesWeekearlyin2013whichwillinclude
awarenessraisingsessions,capacitybuilding
workshops,aswellasthesecondAGM.
BCSP is currently undertaking a
membership drive, while assessing the needs
and the challenges of the various national
services sectors.
Dominica
During this first full year of operations
the DCSI has secured a new office space,
expanded its membership, conducted a
baseline assessment of the country’s priority
sectors, held sensitization workshops,
guided the development of work plan for the
construction sector, supported the health
and wellness sector in the establishment of
an association, facilitated an intellectual
property workshop for the music and film
sector, established an online services directory
and provided guidance to several new and
fledgling associations.
The DCSI has also launched its website
– www.dominicacoalition.org, as well as a
Facebook page.
Next year, the DCSI hopes to complete
a comprehensive service sector strategy and
action plan for Dominica.
Dominican Republic
The ‘Coalicion de Servicios de Republica
Dominicana’ was very recently launched on
December 5, 2012.
The CSRD includes key associations in ICT,
film and audiovisual, accountants, management
consultants, fashion, movie producers and
tourism. It will expand to include most services
industries associations in the DR. The key
initial sectors are expected to continue the
coordination of activities at the regional level
with the key regional entities as well as through
the CSIs. The CSRD is being supported by
the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce
through the support of a Secretariat and the
Ministry of Industry and Commerce through
the Directorate of ExternalTrade (DICOEX).
Coalition Updates

SERVICE SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS
It is anticipated that the CSRD will be
actively involved in the efforts of the network
over 2013.
Grenada
The Grenada Coalition of Service Industries
is one of the newest fully active coalitions,
having launched earlier in the year.
Since the launch Grenada has been
meeting with the various service sector
associations to assess their needs, raise
awareness regarding the role of a coalition and
garner support for the coalition’s efforts. They
are working closely with professionals in the
health and wellness, ICT, creative industries,
architects and engineering sectors to establish
professional associations for these key groups.
The GCSI has been working on the
development of a five year strategic plan
which is expected to be implemented
beginning next year.
GCSI’s other upcoming efforts involve
enhanced communication through the
development of a website.
Guyana
The Guyana Coalition of Service Providers
has recently hired a Research Officer/
Assistant Coordinator who has been
instrumental in the rapid movement of the
Coalition over the past three months.
As a starting point, the GCSP is
undertaking a detailed compilation of the all
services providers and umbrella associations
in Guyana as well as assessing the needs and
challenges of the key services sectors.
The GCSP will be strengthening their
communication over the upcoming months
through various strategies including the
development of a website and annual services
publication.
By next year the GCSP anticipates
servings as a fully active coalition.
Jamaica
In the JCSI’s first year of operation, the
organization developed the Services Sector
Strategy and Expansion Plan which will focus
on the development of six priority sectors.
The plan will be finalized by the end of the
year and will be implemented beginning 2013.
Promotion and awareness building was a
heavy focus of the year. The JCSI launched
its website -www.jamaciacsi.org and the
JCSI quarterly newsletter, The Services Atlas
which is available electronically. To facilitate
the dissemination of important information a
database of stakeholders, including national
associations, was created. With the purpose
of raising awareness on services issues, the
JCSI also participated in numerous national
level and association-driven events and
participated in policy dialogue.
The coalition also supported the formation
of the Business Process Industry Association
of Jamaica and are working with the relevant
stakeholders to establish a spa association.
Saint Lucia
2012wasasignificantandstrategicyearforthe
SLCSI. Asurveyofserviceprovidersandservices
firmsinkeysectorswasundertaken. Theoutput
wasusedtoinformbothapolicypaperoutlining
recommendationsonaNationalServicesPolicy
forSaintLuciawhichfocusesonpolicy,regulatory
andtradeinvestmentissues,aswellasroadmap
designedtoenhanceexportcompetitiveness.
Othereffortsincludedsupporttothespaand
wellnesssectorregardingthedevelopmentand
implementationofacodeofpracticeforhealth
andbeautyfacilities,technicalsupporttothree
associationsintheexecutionoftheirworkplans,as
wellasresourcemobilizationforthesesectors.
TheSLCSIhasbeenworkingveryclosely
withtheTradeExportPromotionAgency(TEPA)
toassisttheUnitintargeting keyservicessectors
fortradeexportpromotion,theMinistryof
Commerce,BusinessDevelopmentandInvestment
inthedevelopmentofSaintLucia’sservices
sectorandInvestSt.Luciaforthepromotionof
investmentsintotheservicessector.
TheSLCSIalsohelditsannualgeneral
meeting,wherekeyassociationexecutives
representingprofessionalservicesassociations
wereelectedtotheboardofdirectorstoserveforthe
period2012-2014.
SaintLuciaisalsospearheadinganinitiative
toestablishanOECSCoalitionNetworkinorder
toharnessandmaximizeonthelimitedcapacities
withintheOECSCSIsandcontinuestonetwork
withitscolleagueintheregiontocreateastrong
“Services”alliance.
Trinidad and Tobago
TTCSI has been busy as ever!
Two key events are featured in this edition
of Services Scoop. Check out the articles on
Services Week on pages 26-27 and the Align
Private Showcase which took place London on
pages 48-49.
Other noteworthy activities undertaken
during 2012 include study tour to Europe
for the creative industries, the initiation a
national ICT strategic plan for off-shoring,
the elaboration of a project which seeks to
enhance competitiveness in key priority
sectors, several awareness building workshops
including an awareness building session on
exporting to the EU and support to various
associations including the Printing and
Packaging Association.
The Bahamas, Suriname and Haiti
The Bahamas, Suriname and Haiti have
each expressed an interest in establishing a
coalition of service industries and the wheels
are slowly in motion to achieve this end.
The GIZ remains on stand-by to provide
the support necessary, including one-on-one
capacity building support, to ensure that the
coalitions are established and well-functioning
across CARIFORUM.

SERVICES Coalitions
FACILITATING THE
GROWTH OF THE
DOMESTIC SERVICES
MARKET
By Lisa Cummins,
Barbados Coalition of Service Industries
The Barbados
Coalition of Service
Industries (BCSI), the
first services coalition
to be established in
the region, has been
in existence for nearly
ten years.
Though a decade has now passed, the
rationale of the CARICOM Heads of
Government for establishing coalitions nearly
ten years ago – supporting the region’s trade
in services agenda - remains as relevant
today as it was then. We now have coalitions
spanning from Belize, across to Jamaica and
down the island chain to Guyana, each with
shared regional interests, but unique national
imperatives.
Around us the economic and global
environment has dramatically evolved.
Developments organizationally, regionally
and internationally have presented a set
of diverse challenges which the coalitions
have had to assess, mitigate and translate
into opportunities in order to deliver on the
mandate given by the Heads. The region’s
collective agenda, while unchanged at its core,
certainly has needed to evolve operationally
and strategically to remain relevant. National
economies and the services coalitions which
serve them, accordingly have to make their
own way forward through clearly articulated
development strategies including export
development interventions which lay the
groundwork for export promotion. This, while
keeping a keen eye fixed outward on evolving
international developments and best practices.
Internationally, the region has signed for
the first time a reciprocal trade agreement,
the Economic Partnership Agreement,
which includes services. However, although
BCSICharting a New
Strategic
Direction

Services Scoop Trade in Services Magazine 2013

Services Scoop Trade in Services Magazine 2013

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