The investment promotions agency of St. Vincent and the Grenadines – Invest SVG has announced that the country’s inaugural SVG Investment Forum will be held on 2^nd May 2020 on the island of Bequia.

The announcement comes at a time when more and more countries across the world are competing to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) particularly as this is the third consecutive year for global decline in FDI according to UNCTAD’s 2019 World Investment Report.   

It is noted however, that despite this the Caribbean continues to receive some of the highest levels of FDI in the world and thus making initiatives such as this a prime opportunity to increase visibility and awareness for investment opportunities.  Further, the SVG Investment Forum 2020 comes within the country’s 40^th year of independence and it is anticipated that this will provide an added bonus to increase the country’s visibility internationally and of course with investors. 

Executive Director at Invest SVG Annette Mark described in her remarks how they wanted to expose investors to the culture, way of doing business and to expand their perception as to what could be possible.  The aims of the event are to produce “heightened visibility as a prime jurisdiction in the Caribbean for investment.  To generate investor leads… and to give investors who are not familiar with St. Vincent and the Grenadines and opportunity to meet public officials and to understand how we do business here”.

Ms. Mark also shared how the investors that would be in attendance would be ‘qualified’ beforehand, to ensure the highest quality of investor leads, ultimately increasing the possibility of doing business. 

InvestSVG is expecting to attract over 100 attendees including qualified investors, government officials, private sector representatives and development partners to the event in May, which is being supported by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) the Caribbean Development Bank and Compete Caribbean.

Gayle Gollop, Legal Advisor at Caribbean Export delivered remarks on behalf of Officer in Charge, Anthony Bradshaw who was unable to attend. 

“Caribbean Export recognizes that the Vincentian economy is focused on growth in the upcoming years. The IMF projected a 2.3% growth in 2020 for the economy fuelled by increased tourist arrivals. It is however recommended that sustainable growth be achieved by enhancing the competitiveness of the local private sector, increasing exports and investments and reaching new markets, which will lead to increased GDP, foreign exchange earnings and employment. We view the Investment Forum as an important step in establishing linkages and promoting investment into the country and achieving this growth objective.”

Pictured from left: Mr. Anthony Regisford, Chairman of the Board – Invest SVG; Ms. Gayle Gollop, Special Advisor – Legal Affairs, Caribbean Export; Mr. Russell Franklyn, Operations & Financial Coord. – IDB Compete Caribbean; Ms. Annette Mark, Executive Director – Invest SVG