RG-T3243 – Saint Lucia Competitiveness Agenda and Action Plan (US$196,046 disbursed) 2018-2021

Counterpart: National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC), and Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training

Objective: To foster sustainable economic growth and enhance competitiveness in Saint Lucia. The specific objectives are to: (i) clarify a competitiveness agenda for the country and increase consensus and focus on strategic interventions to promote private sector development; (ii) strengthen the enabling environment for business development, trade and development; (iii) strengthen key institutions that facilitate competitiveness and innovation, in particular the NCPC and the Department of Innovation; and (iv) build capacity within the public sector on key aspects of competitiveness, innovation and productivity.

Results: The project funded the development of a National Competitiveness Agenda, action plan and financing strategy that included 3 implementation roadmaps and action plans, funding and public awareness recommendations, a governance framework for a National Innovation System, and a Science, Technology and Innovation policy document and capacity building programme. A Spanish consulting firm, INFYDE, was responsible for the development of the competitiveness agenda while the Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy institute from University of Cambridge developed all the other above-mentioned deliverables.

The project also developed a productivity measurement tool for businesses – ProTool https://protool.govt.lc/  – that would allow St. Lucian companies to benchmark themselves against international standards for their sector. In 2022, the World Bank committed to supporting full deployment not only in Saint Lucia but also in Dominica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines under the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project. The World Bank assistance provided training and technical support for the roll out of ProTool in the private sector.

RG-T3269 – Supporting the Implementation of a Business Climate Reform Program in St. Lucia (US$167,444 disbursed plus US$30,000 in counterpart financing) 2018-2021

Counterpart: St. Lucia’s Ease of Doing Business Task Force (and more directly Saint Lucia’s Inland Revenue Department, the Department of the Public Service, the Commercial Court of Saint Lucia, and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court)

Objective: To support the implementation of a business climate reform agenda that can create an enabling environment for Small and Medium Sized enterprises in St. Lucia.

Results: The project supported the implementation of a business climate reform agenda that had previously been developed by Saint Lucia’s Ease of Doing Business Task Force. A Legal Gap Analysis of the Companies Act, Securities Act and other regulation pertaining to the protection of minority shareholders and corporate governance was conducted, and a draft Securities Bill was supported. A series of trainings on Best Practices on Protecting Minority Investors was conducted, covering the following topics in different sessions: (1) Director Liability, (2) Disclosure of Related Party Transactions, (3) Ownership and Control; (4) Corporate Transparency; (5) Shareholders Rights; (6) Shareholder Suits.

The project also sought to improve the OECS Doing Business ranking on Enforcing Commercial Contracts by producing recommendations and an action plan to enforce commercial contracts in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC).

To further deliver results related to enforcing commercial contracts, the project helped to implement the new Court Case Management System – ECSC e-litigation portal at the Commercial Court division of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court – by delivering a training program to 75 legal and administrative staff of the ECSC. At the St. Lucia level and related to enforcing contracts, the project financed the drafting of a legal framework – a Mediation Bill – that promoted alternative dispute resolution mechanisms in Saint Lucia. A 4-day mediation training was held with the Registry of the Supreme Court Saint Lucia to promote this alternative form of dispute resolution.

The project also aimed to increase the use of Saint Lucia’s Inland Revenue Department’s online platform for filing and paying taxes through a gender-sensitive communications campaign targeting the private sector, including MSMEs and women entrepreneurs. It financed the development of a communication strategy, campaign taglines, logos, and a video for the campaign.

The project drafted and submitted to the St. Lucian government for approval: a Revised Companies Act for Protecting Minority Investors; Commercial Court Rules of Civil Procedures; Draft Mediation Legislation and Regulation for Enforcing Contracts.

These outputs resulted in improvements in the Doing Business Distance to Frontier scores in Enforcing Contracts (from 59.7 to 67.1), Protecting Minority Investors (from 58 to 62) and Paying taxes.

RG-T3322 – Technology Extension Services (TES) in the Caribbean (2019-2024)

Objective: Technology Extension Services is a form of innovation policy that sought to accelerate the pace at which Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) “catch up” with more advanced firms by transferring cutting-edge technology. This Caribbean-wide project worked with agri-business, manufacturing, and tourism firms.

Results: This project funded 75 technology audits and assessments for MSMEs, with 50 of the firms also benefiting from partial implementation.

St. Lucia’s Participation

The St. Lucian firms that benefited from this intervention included: Caribbean Awning Production Company, Natmed Ltd., and Pro Home Furnishings.

RG-T3519 – Experiential Learning of Cluster Development Best Practices in Small and Vulnerable Countries (US$150,000) (2019-2024)

Counterpart in St. Lucia: Export St. Lucia

Objective: To enhance the capacity of Business Support Organisations (BSOs) in small and vulnerable Caribbean countries to function as effective Cluster Support Organisations (CSOs), by enabling them to apply the cluster methodology learnt over the past several months. This TC used an experiential learning approach to further embed (ie. institutionalize) international best practices in cluster development in Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname. This objective was directly in line with the overall focus of the second phase of the Compete Caribbean program (CC2). The program aimed to ensure lasting change beyond its direct activities by piloting and transferring best-practices in private sector development to national entities.

Objective of the Honey Bee City Cluster: to enhance competitiveness throughout the honey value chain by focusing on product development, strengthening institutions, capacity building, and domestic and international market expansion.

Results: The overarching goal of this project is to establish and maintain a reputation for high-quality Saint Lucian Honey, positioning it as a strong contender in a health-conscious niche market. Key achievements encompassed various activities. These included conducting apiary assessments for larger producers within the cluster, carried out by a commercial beekeeper. A capacity building program was implemented to support ten selected producers in boosting their productivity. Customized assessments of beekeeping practices were conducted for each producer/farmer, and recommendations were provided to align their methods with contemporary practices. These recommendations covered areas such as technology utilization, hive management, maintenance, and site selection.

Furthermore, instructional support was extended to five extension officers within the Ministry of Agriculture (comprising three women and two men) in vital areas such as Hive Management, Apiary Inspection, Disease Surveillance, Integrated Pest Management, and Queen Management. Additionally, a roadmap was developed to guide the commercialization of value-added beehive products like wax, propolis, pollen, and royal jelly. This roadmap serves as a crucial component of the national strategy, promoting readiness for the market for these value-added hive products. Export St. Lucia and the Ministry of Agriculture continues to provide support to the industry with additional partnerships that allowed for the hosting of an Agriculture Field Program (FAO) as well as activities being undertaken at the Bordelais Correctional Facility.

This project benefitted 218 Honey Farms in St. Lucia (of which 26 were women-owned). Some of the farms were owned by people with disabilities. The project produced 76 new jobs, of which 25 were for women.

RG-T3520 – Improving the Business and Innovation Climate and Capacity to Attract Investment in OECS Member Countries (US$137,630) (2019-2023)

Counterpart: Department of Public Service & Division of Public Sector Modernisation

Objective: To improve the Business and Investment Climate (BIC) in OECS Member Countries and to increase foreign and local investment.

Results: In Saint Lucia, the project funded the drafting of legislation to support the operationalisation of the Saint Lucia government digital platform, DigiGov. The project drafted an E-signature Bill, Cybersecurity Bill, a Data Protection Bill, and a E-Transaction Bill which have been enacted. The Data Sharing and Digital Government Bills remain under review.

RG-T3560 – Support for Algas Organics Ltd. (AOL) Conversion of Sargassum into Biostimulant (US$250,000 disbursed plus US$250,000 counterpart financing) (2020-2023)

Counterpart: Algas Organics Ltd.

Objective: To promote job creation in the Blue Economy sector and stimulate environmentally sustainable exports through its support to bolster Algas’ technical capacity.

Results: Despite the challenges generated by the pandemic during 2020/2021 that affected most projects as a result of the lock-down, Algas Organics Limited (AOL) demonstrated excellent management capabilities to help the business scale, access markets, and leverage additional funding, including a USD200,000 grant from IDB LAB to support CAPEX (the purchase of equipment and processing facility), and a loan for USD125,000 from Republic Bank, which was used to finance operational costs and counterpart funding committed to this project. As a result of the technical cooperation, AOL was issued a US patent and completed US product registration in 17 states, improved production capacity and infrastructure and commercialization efforts. Unfortunately, sales during 2021 and 2022 were lower than expected due to COVID-19 and the shift of the growing season which affected demand for the product. To mitigate commercialization challenges Algas Organics executed a pivot to fast-track the introduction of e-commerce- supported by this project – which now facilitates sales directly to farmers, with convenient delivery and an easy user interface.

AOL also participated in trade shows in the US and worked directly with farmers by implementing trials to test product and its efficiency in improving crop yields leading to several potential contracts. The product trials with potential customers resulted in an excellent tool for R&D, client discovery and demand mapping, and product-market fit. During the project, AOL strengthened its production capacity by purchasing new equipment, quality assurance, and intellectual property protection and incorporated eight new team members as part-time staff, including four women for a total of 32 new jobs created, including 20 women. The project overachieved its targets for job creation, including for women and vulnerable groups, and improved shipping and delivery services to farmers through partnerships in the USA that will increase sales exports and overall revenue. Currently the project is raising additional funding from private sector and grant programs to continue expanding its markets.

RG-T4003 -Technology Extension Services (TES) in the Caribbean Blue Economy and Essential Services Sectors (US$53,562 disbursed for St. Lucia) (2021-ongoing)

Objective: To support firms in the blue economy and essential services sectors in the acceleration of technological diffusion, adoption, and upgrading, thus providing support to the Caribbean in diversifying the blue economy and strengthening the delivery of goods and services in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: This project delivered technology extension services to a group of businesses in every country. In addition, the project implemented a supplementary capacity building plan for a sub-group of women-owned businesses with growth potential.

Beneficiaries from St. Lucia:

1. Aiko Farms
2. Keke’s Vegetables
3. Baron Foods Limited
4. Keke’s Vegetables
5. Mop Flaw
6. SOS Creativo Inc. (received additional support from the women-owned business activities)
7. Total Property Management and Maintenance

RG-T4017 – Support to Economic Recovery in the Caribbean through Trade and Investment in Blue Economy (US$61,667) earmarked for Saint Lucia (2022-ongoing)

Counterpart in St. Lucia: Invest Saint Lucia

Objective: To increase institutional capacity to attract private sector investment into the Blue Economy (BE) in the Caribbean (Belize, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and Grenadines) to generate employment, growth, diversification of the economy and to contribute towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets.

Results: The project financed Blue Economy FDI promotion strategies and value propositions for Belize and for the three participating OECS countries. Virtual and in person training workshops were conducted on these strategies which included participation from the Investment Promotion Agencies of the participating countries.

A toolkit to promote gender parity in FDI promotion in the Blue Economy was also completed and disseminated to the participating investment promotion agencies.

A Blue Economy Investment Forum was carried out for OECS beneficiaries in November 2024. The forum sought to attract investment, promote innovative practices, and support economic diversification in the Blue Economy, aligning with regional strategies and global best practices. The initiative was supported by key stakeholders, including the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), COMPETE Caribbean, and local Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs), who had booths at the event. The forum featured keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive features, facilitating dialogue, partnerships, and investment exploration in the Blue Economy. The project led to significant results, including increased website visits, social media engagement, and numerous leads, showcasing the potential of the Blue Economy.