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Enhancing the competitiveness of Professional Services in St Kitts & Nevis

3:38:00 PM

Reference: PX/KNA/0588
Location: St Kitts and Nevis
Duration: 12 person weeks or 60 person days over a six-month period
Closing Date: 12 Feb 2012

Background

The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has requested the Commonwealth Secretariat for support to enhance the competitiveness of professional services[1] in the country.

Until 2005, sugar was the mainstay of the economy of St. Kitts and Nevis. The country's Adaptation Strategy (2006-2013) sets out 5 key priorities to diversify the economy, including: i) Macroeconomic policies to reduce vulnerability and encourage and facilitate investment and ii) improving competitiveness in the production of goods and services. Over the last 6 years, services has emerged as a favourable sector, accounting for 70% of GDP in 2009. However, the sector saw a decline of 17.5% in 2009/10 as a result of the downturn in the global economy. The requested assistance is in support of the country’s efforts to revamp the country's services sector. The client is the Ministry of International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

In order to mitigate the negative social and economic impact that the closure of the sugar industry could cause, a number of professional services have been identified in the adaptation strategy as priority sectors for diversification, taking advantage of the opportunities available under existing and future trade agreements such as the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the CARICOM region and the European Union (EU). These include education, engineering and architecture ICT Services and Financial Services.

While the EU is a valuable market, it is recognised that the country needs to actively target key markets elsewhere. The country is in the process of establishing a National Coalition of Services Industries (NCSI) to bring service providers under a common umbrella.

Scope of Work

The main objective of the TA is to enhance the competitiveness of professional services in the

Country by undertaking the following broad activities:

  1. Validating and documenting the potential of the identified priority sectors and recommending services that can be enhanced to improve trade and competitiveness in the short to medium term
  2. Assessing demand patterns in key markets, such as USA, Canada, Brazil, Central America and other Caribbean Countries and defining appropriate market entry strategies for services in which the country is competitive.
  3. Developing a Marketing Plan arising out of tasks 1 and 2 above together with a prioritised plan of action.
  4. Reviewing the trade policy, support institutions and the domestic business environment and recommending areas that need to be strengthened for greater competitiveness in the professional services sector.
  5. Reviewing the structure, mandates, funding and performance of existing associations in the services sector, including the NCSI and providing guidelines for its strengthening.
  6. Preparing a regulatory and institutional review report arising from tasks 4 and 5.

The consultant will work closely with the client and relevant stakeholders and will be responsible to organise a minimum of 2 workshops at key stages of the project.

Deliverables

  • An inception report following the first in-country mission
  • A progress report
  • A draft marketing plan and institutional review report to be presented to stakeholders
  • Final marketing plan and institutional review report

Required expertise

To complement in-house expertise, this project will require a team with the following skills and competencies:

  • At least 10 years’ experience in business, market and institutional development
  • International experience in services strategy formulation
  • Up to date knowledge of services issues in St. Kitts and Nevis and the Caribbean region, including bilateral initiatives, EPA, etc.
  • A Masters degree or equivalent in Economics, Business Management or related field

Level of effort

12 person weeks over a 6 month period. The maximum budget is £31,100 to cover fees and travel per day.

Download the Terms of Reference

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