STAR Businessweek - 20 Janaury 2018

THE STAR BUSINESSWEEK JANUARY 20, 2018

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COLLABORATING FOR A BETTER CATCH

HOW CARIBBEAN FISHERIES ARE TEAMING UP WITH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS TO INCREASE YIELDS AND PROFITS

Traditional growth measures give a false account of economic health Amid all the market euphoria and forecasting frenzy about the state of world growth, the World Bank has struck an uncharacteristically cautious note.

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BY CATHERINE MORRIS, STAR BUSINESSWEEK CORRESPONDENT

For the past five years, fisheries in the Caribbean have been quietly transforming their industry. An innovative pilot project, launched in May 2013, brought together regional governments, private sector players and Japanese experts with one common goal - to drive sustainable growth in this vital sector.

Continued on page 4

Smuggled cattle and petrol join exodus from Venezuela

Along Venezuela’s vast, lawless border with Colombia, cattle rustlers are at work stealing and trading cows and smuggling them across the frontier, often in the dead of night.

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THE STAR BUSINESSWEEK

JANUARY 20, 2018

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WHAT IS THE NEXT GREAT CHAPTER FOR CARIBBEAN BUSINESS?

BY ED KENNEDY, STAR BUSINESSWEEK CORRESPONDENT

The STAR Businessweek

BY CHRISTIAN WAYNE – EDITOR AT LARGE Earlier this week, I was struck by headlines citing the World Bank’s annual report on the state of the global economy which succinctly noted global growth has appeared to have “peaked” . . . with “emerging and developing economies likely to hit ceilings and contribute less to global growth [in the coming years]”.

It was actually less the forecast itself that made an impression on me than it was the supposition that countries are bound by an overt obligation to “contribute to global growth”. Quite the contrary. In fact, the last I checked, countries are obligated to improve the living standards of their people, not contribute to esoteric, outdated measures of global economic progress that unfortunately still cast large spectres over our global financial system—despite being created by American economist Simon Kuznets (also the creator of the Kuznets Curve, a central pillar of environmental economics literature) over 80 years ago!

Though Kuznets became known as the father of GDP, the statistical measure took on a life of its own following the Bretton Woods conference of 1944 that established international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who adopted GDP as their standard tool for sizing up any country’s economy.

The measurement has been used ever since.

Famously, Kuznets himself was one of the largest critics of using GDP as an evaluation criterion for a country’s progress. He wrote: “the welfare of a nation can scarcely be inferred from a measure of national income.” Echoing the sentiments of the Financial Times article Traditional Growth Measures give a False Account of Economic Health (page 3), this editor’s reaction to the World Bank’s latest report is: “So what?”

The drawing down of a multi-year, international cooperation pilot project focused on the future of sustainable growth in our fishing industry has recently concluded – yielding major insights into industry issues and how Caribbean countries can begin solving them.

Notably, Saint Lucia was a major component of the project. Learn more about how Caribbean fisheries are collaborating with international partners in Collaborating for a Better Catch on page 1 and 4.

How are you enjoying our weekly editions of STAR Businessweek? Share your thoughts with the Editor at starbusinessweek@stluciastar.com.

The STAR Businessweek Nothing Personal. It’s Just Business.

Stay connected with us at: Web: www.stluciastar.com Social: www.facebook.com/stluciastar Email: starbusinessweek@stluciastar.com

It is recognised that the Caribbean is an incredibly diverse region economically.

In neighbourhoods and across nations in our region, some communities are still developing, others have been embattled by unemployment, economic stagnation and, of course natural disaster. Conversely, the region is also home to a finance industry that sees many of the world’s wealthiest bank here, and it hosts some of the most expensive real estate in the world.

While the differences from one side of the economy to the other are substantial, across the board it can be recognised that the Caribbean is often an expensive place to live, and can be a difficult place to run a business.

This can add to the difficulty of bringing new business to our region, and also retaining it. Most of all, it can have a real bearing on the ability of people across the Caribbean to start and build new businesses; businesses that, whether built to employ just one person or destined to go global, bring with their growth the promise of greater employment, investment and economic productivity to our region.

If you’re reading this, the odds are good that you’ll know that the ingenuity and the ambition of so many in the Caribbean business community exists with a readiness to further build commerce in our region. So, what challenges exist that embattle this progress?

And what can we do about it?

BORDERS AND ECONOMICS

This cost of living issue, as a result of our borders, is complex. When it comes to determining the cost of goods sourced from beyond a nation’s shores, many elements come into play. Does taxation exist on the goods?

What are the transport costs? Is there a trade deal between a Caribbean nation and another that may reduce (if not outright eliminate) added costs? The variables here are many but throughout all of these questions is a common source of anguish.

Put simply, the feeling of being subject to such excess costs can deliver a feeling akin to heartbreak for entrepreneurs and local business. A good idea may be in hand, a willingness to see it through for the long haul, and maybe even some early customers lined up. Then the brutal reality of ‘old world economics’ in an economically borderless world is encountered.

It is true that the election of Donald Trump to the White House under a protectionist ‘America First’ banner, and the Brexit vote in the UK have evidenced a desire by many people around the world to turn away from the world, and focus on

domestic issues exclusively.

The problem is, that is no longer possible, if it ever was. It’s true the GFC and its aftershocks saw greater pressure placed upon the ideals of globalisation and free trade. And there are some legitimate concerns about unquestioned capital investment the world over.

Nonetheless, for better or worse, the rise of the digital economy affirms that the global economy will continue to become more interdependent and borderless than ever. But this hasn’t translated globally, as some nations lead as start-up friendly locales, whereas others hold a harder path.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE CARIBBEAN?

As a region, the Caribbean has a ton going for it when it comes to the capacity of local start-ups and established businesses to take on the world. It is just also true that a region with a relatively small population, still growing in a number of areas, and at a distance from major economic epicentres like North America, Europe, and Asia isn’t crying out for another ridge to summit.

As in other parts of the world, a difficult experience in starting and maintaining a business here greatly grows the risk of a brain drain, the phenomenon where some of a community’s best and most dynamic professionals depart for what they identify as bigger opportunities elsewhere.

Jamaica has been a noted example of this locally but the underlying challenges go well beyond the Land of Wood and Water. The Caribbean is on a cusp of a big new change economically. In decades prior, bananas may have been recognised as our greatest export.

Today our strength in tourism and finance is heralded the world over.

Seeking out this next chapter does not presume to supplant or surpass the achievements we’ve made prior. Instead, it seeks to build on them. And this begins with an understanding of which problems are making it harder to move forward.

Internet speed is a factor, so too electricity costs. But given that tech capitals like San Francisco and London have also had comparatively slow internet speeds, it confirms that no quick fix will do it when identifying a problem, or potential.

They are also not universal, as while some nations have made solid inroads in eCommerce, others have done so in blockchain, and others still have pioneered tourism and financial tech. The variety of these pursuits alone shows that there are indeed the tools in the region to build a greater dialogue surrounding ‘where to next?’ when

it comes to industry growth beyond tourism and finance, presently our two biggest industries.

Growing this conversation is not only a guard against brain drain, it is a foundation for the future. When major cities like San Francisco, Toronto and Dublin are recognised the world over as global capitals for new business, then building a business locally in competition to these start-up epicentres can be harder.

WHERE ARE WE TODAY? AND WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE TOMORROW?

But it is possible for nations to quickly build new identities and open up new economies. So many nations in our region have the skills, resources, and readiness to do so in the digital era, but barriers remain. Many of the challenges have been identified, and it’s time to talk solutions.

Ultimately, certain challenges surrounding our region will endure for some time. So long as seas are harder to traverse than roads, and economies of scale advantage huge populations, as in Los Angeles and Mexico City, the people of the Caribbean will struggle to go head to head in some traditional industries.

It’s just also true that the world is prime to reward the agile innovators: those entrepreneurs who start a business on their smartphone; those eCommerce start-ups that begin trading in a car garage, backroom offices - and even boatsheds! - across the region. And yes, those existing businesses that look to the opportunities of the digital economy not as something to fear but something to seize upon, renew in, and to take on the world within.

SO LET’S TALK

This is the beginning of a long story that we at The Star Businessweek aspire to write this year. One that goes in-depth, to profile and showcase the entrepreneurs and start-ups that are writing the next great chapter of Caribbean business; the individuals and businesses that have experienced the problems; and identity the red tape, the outdated processes, and areas that must be addressed so that business can thrive.

Want to join in our conversation? Get in touch with us via starbusinessweek@ stluciastar.com with the subject line ‘Talking Caribbean Business’.

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JANUARY 20, 2018

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© The Financial Times Limited [2017]. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in anyway. Star Publishing Company is solely responsible for providing this translated content and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation

TRADITIONAL GROWTH MEASURES GIVE A FALSE ACCOUNT OF ECONOMIC HEALTH

BY FT CORRESPONDENT

If emerging and developing economies grow, the object should be to improve living standards, not to contribute to some abstract measure of global economic progress.

Sure, Planet Earth’s growth rate, as defined by gross domestic product, is expected to edge up to 3.1 per cent in 2018 after a much stronger than expected 2017. But this could be merely “a shortterm upswing”, the report issued by the World Bank warns. Demographics, falling productivity, slower investment and a closure of the output gap could put that figure at risk in future years. The potential growth of Earth may be lower than currently experienced. In short, the era of “Peak GDP” may be upon us.

Although this is perfectly acceptable economics-speak, my overriding reaction is that this is gobbledegook. It is as though the very mission of people living

on Earth is to push GDP growth faster and faster — presumably because we are in a race with aliens living on other planets who might outdo us on the GDP league tables.

Although there are some noises in the report’s accompanying publicity about the role of growth in “reducing poverty around the world”, the overriding impression is that we are in an undeclared race in which the goal itself is to produce as fast growth as possible.

The bank says it expects growth in advanced economies to slow from 2.3 per cent last year to 1.7 per cent by 2020. Meanwhile, says an FT news story, “emerging and developing economies, which grew by 4.3 per cent as a group last year, are also likely to hit ceilings and contribute less to global growth”.

The bank says it expects growth in advanced economies to slow from 2.3 per cent last year to 1.7 per cent by 2020

In the past, pessimists couldn’t contemplate a future with more people.

These days, economists panic at the first sign of population slowdown This is pure tautology. Surely, we should want economies to grow for their own sake. If emerging and developing economies grow, the object should be to improve the living standards of the people living there, not to contribute to some abstract measure of global economic progress.

Similarly, we learn that the overriding obstacle to higher growth is demographics. Outside Africa, most of the world’s population has stopped growing, contributing to the “ageing of the global workforce”. In the past, pessimists such as Thomas Malthus couldn’t contemplate a future with more people. These days, economists panic at the first sign of population slowdown. Low population expansion is only something to fret about if our goal is high GDP growth for its own sake. Changing demographics will always present challenges. But it need not impact on what should really matter: growth per capita.

The backwards logic of this thinking is the result of assigning too much importance to a useful, but hardly sacrosanct, man-made configuration — namely GDP. Invented in the manufacturing age as a way of totting up mainly physical production, GDP is less and less useful for measuring the innovation, quality improvements and low-carbon output of today’s digital economy.

Of course, a rise in GDP can be a useful proxy for all the things we really want: better health, better education, better prospects, better experiences, more and better things. But that is decidedly not the same thing as saying that, as a species, our goal in life is to push planetary GDP ever faster.

The bank may prove correct in saying that growth as currently defined has peaked.

Whether it is right or not, technological progress and innovation most certainly have not yet crested.

If we have hit peak GDP, my response would be this: “So what?”

SAVE THE DATE! SAINT LUCIA JAZZ 2018 10-13 May 2018

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FRIDAY 11 AND SATURDAY 12 MAY A MUSICAL TAPESTRY LALAH HATHAWAY & ALFREDO RODRIGUES ROYALTON ST. LUCIA RESORT & SPA

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SUNDAY 13 MAY MOTHERS’ DAY SPECIAL THE FRANTZ LAURAC QUARTET RONALD ‘BOO’ HINKSON & FRIENDS R+R=NOW

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THE STAR BUSINESSWEEK

JANUARY 20, 2018

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Collaborating for a better catch

HOW CARIBBEAN FISHERIES ARE TEAMING UP WITH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS TO INCREASE YIELDS AND PROFITS conducive to improving their welfare and livelihoods.”

Continued from page 1

COMING TOGETHER

Lost fishing gear, or so called ‘ghost gear’, is among the greatest killers in our oceans.

Ghost gear can harm fish and other marine life for multiple decades and possibly several centuries after it’s first lost.

In 2009, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Secretariat joined with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the CARICOM Secretariat to develop a master plan on how to sustainably grow fisheries resources for the Caribbean’s coastal communities.

One of the most pressing issues that arose from those discussions was the need for greater collaboration within the islands’ domestic fishing industries. The Caribbean Fisheries Co-Management Project (CARIFICO) was created to meet this need in 2012. Six pilot countries were chosen - Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada - with the hope that success in these states would act as a template for the rest of the region.

The overriding goal of the project was to develop a system of co-management, ie where responsibility for managing fish stocks is shared between government, fisherfolk and the local community. In this way, everyone who benefits from a thriving fisheries sector plays a part in safeguarding it.

A collaborative spirit is vital for small-scale fisheries such as those in the Caribbean, says Milton Haughton, CRFM Executive Director.

“Co-management has the potential to provide resource users with a more stable operating environment, a greater say in the decisions that affect their economic activities and ultimately the opportunity to ensure that government policies and programmes are more

TAILORMADE APPROACH

Developing a country-specific approach for each of the six participating pilot states required plenty of discussion, research and feedback. Activities in each country were determined by stakeholders from both the private and public sector, according to their priorities and goals.

Much of the activity under CARIFICO centred around Fish Aggregation Devices (FADs). These are floating objects used to lure in large numbers of pelagic fish. FADs can be made from a variety of materials and designs. They are deployed in the middle of the ocean and draw fish to a focal point where they can then be harvested by fishers.

CARIFICO is not just about constructing and using FADs, however; it also encourages stakeholders to use this tool to sustainably manage fish stocks while reducing the impact on the marine ecosystem. “Fishers have worked together to construct, deploy, manage and maintain FADs,” says Haughton.

“They have been collecting and reporting scientific data to the government and they have seen their catches and incomes increase.”

Another major part of CARIFICO’s activities involved the practice of ‘ghost fishing’. This occurs when fishing gear is lost and ends up drifting around the ocean, snagging fish, injuring other marine life and damaging reefs. In order to mitigate this, CARIFICO worked with fishers in Antigua and Barbuda to develop a fishing pot with biodegradeable panels that are designed to disintegrate naturally.

In Saint Lucia, where the fisheries sector accounts for one per cent of the country’s GDP, CARIFICO’s work

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centred around co-management of the queen conch resources with the aim of revitalising stocks.

LESSONS LEARNED

CARIFICO is now drawing to an end, and participants came together in Castries recently to share their success stories.

The mood at the event was positive, according to Haughton, who says: “It was very upbeat. We were all pleased by the progress being made and especially the tangible economic and social improvements reported by fishers.”

While it hasn’t always been easy, the project has changed the way fishers and governments collaborate to harvest, and protect, natural resources. “The main challenge was getting fishers and government officials to work together in a deeper and structured manner,” says Haughton. “Fishers historically tend to be individualistic and loners in their activities.

For co-management to succeed, fishers must work in a co-operative manner. In each country there were persons who were committed to the project and who worked beyond the call of duty to ensure its success.”

As CARIFICO enters its final phase, the team behind it has drawn up a document that it hopes will chart the way for other countries in the region. The ‘Guidelines for Fisheries Co-management in the Caribbean Region: Good Practices of CARIFICO

In Saint Lucia, where the fisheries sector accounts for one per cent of the country’s GDP, CARIFICO’s work centred around co-management of the queen conch resources with the aim of revitalising stocks

JANUARY 20, 2018

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Participating Countries’ is intended to kickstart a new way of thinking for all Caribbean fisheries.

In the meantime, fishers are carrying forward the lessons learned, skills developed and knowledge acquired, becoming trainers and teachers within their own communities. Haughton says that the project has empowered those who work in the fishing industry, as they were exposed to new methods and techniques.

“The Japanese experts worked along with national and regional experts, including local fishers, who received practical training and became leaders, managers and trainers themselves.

“A key feature of the project was the investment in capacity building and training of fishers and government officials who would function as trainers to facilitate the transfer of knowledge to other countries and communities.”

In April 2018, Fisheries Ministers from CRFM member states will meet to deliver the CARIFICO-CRFM Joint Statement on Fisheries Co-management, fully detailing the project’s outcome and way forward.

Haughton says: “This is the beginning of a process. The project has given us very useful material to work with going forward. We are in the process of discussing how best to build on the knowledge and experience we have gained over the past four years.”

He adds that “concrete policy decisions” are on the horizon and highlights the need for further funding and institutional support.

Offer valid from January 18th-25th (not available in-store)

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JANUARY 20, 2018

CORPORATE

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VIEUX FORT SPECIAL EDUCATION CENTRE RECEIVES FACELIFT FROM COCONUT BAY

HANDS

The Saint Lucia Government Gazette Company Registration

Name: Biotec (SL) Ltd. Description: Renewable Energy Construction, Solar Photovoltaic and Biomass Directors: Duana Jean Baptiste Date Incorporated: 5-Jan-18 Chamber: Amicus Legal, Saint Lucia

Name: Brimpton Ltd. (reincorporation) Description: Property Holding Company Directors: Craig Barnard; Pauline Barnard; Andrew Barnard Date Incorporated: 5-Jan-18 Chamber: McNamara & Co., Saint Lucia

Name: Caribbean Strategies Network Ltd. Description: Business Development and Social Entrepreneurship Directors: Samuel Bowers Date Incorporated: 8-Jan-18 Chamber: SEDU, Saint Lucia

Name: ED-Essentials Inc. Description: Manufacturing and Retail Members of the Coconut Bay Sports & Social Committee conclude yet another outreach project, their first of many in 2018!

Students and teachers of the Vieux Fort Special Education Centre received the gift of a facelift to their school building in time for the new term. This became possible through a painting project undertaken by the Coconut Bay Sports & Social Committee to enhance the exterior of the school on Friday, 5th January, 2018.

The project was financed from money raised as a result of a walk undertaken by the Committee for Earth Day, 2017. The painting of the centre marked the first outreach project carried out by the resort’s Sports & Social Committee for 2018.

The resort, along with the Committee, is pleased to have impacted positively on the Vieux Fort Special Education Centre and to have uplifted the image of the institution for the new school term. The hotel’s General Manager, Zachary Frangos, in commenting on the project expressed praise for this latest assistance to the local community by the Sports & Social Committee. He stated: “This is a wonderful New Year gift for our special friends at the

centre. These children who are challenged need our help and we are committed to assisting within our capacity.”

Coconut Bay is committed to supporting the educational advancement of Saint Lucia’s children as well as facilitating assistance to targeted groups and individuals in the south of the island focusing on youth and the elderly as well as the education and health sectors.

In addition to the Common Entrance Scholarship Awards, the resort’s philanthropic programmes include the Cocoland Little Leaders Programme, now in its fifth year, Christmas Outreach, and the St. Jude Hospital ‘Charity Rubber Duck Race.’

The Coconut Bay Sports & Social Committee has as its mission: “Enhancing the Wellbeing of Staff - Promoting Community Outreach”. The Committee will continue during this year to undertake projects which will enhance the quality of life of communities in the south of Saint Lucia.

Directors: Jenny Alcide-James; Lyndel James Date Incorporated: 8-Jan-18 Chamber: SEDU, Saint Lucia

Name: Success Connection Inc. Description: Coaching and Development Directors: Jenny Alcide-James Date Incorporated: 8-Jan-18 Chamber: SEDU, Saint Lucia

Name: Feel Free Car Rental Ltd. Description: Car Rental Service Directors: Brendon Kervin Gustave Date Incorporated: 10-Jan-18 Chamber: Winston Hinkson & Associates, Saint Lucia

THE STAR BUSINESSWEEK

JANUARY 20, 2018

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© The Financial Times Limited [2017]. All Rights Reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in anyway. Star Publishing Company is solely responsible for providing this translated content and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation

SMUGGLED CATTLE AND PETROL JOIN EXODUS FROM VENEZUELA

BY FT CORRESPONDENT

They bribe border guards to get the livestock across. The cows are slaughtered — as many as 250,000 a year — in makeshift Colombian abattoirs and the meat is sold for three times what it fetches in Venezuela.

The business is worth US $135m a year, according to one estimate by the Colombian cattle-ranching federation.

But it is only one of a series of growing cross-border smuggling rackets that include petrol, stolen copper, scrap metal, eggs, tomatoes and clothing.

It is also just another symptom of Venezuela’s imploding economy, which has caused spillovers elsewhere. Falling oil output in a country with the world’s largest oil reserves has helped boost global energy prices. Lower export revenues have meanwhile pushed Venezuela towards default on its $64bn of internationally traded bonds.

And then there is the regional impact.

This is most severe in Colombia, which has received about 500,000 Venezuelan refugees. Cattle rustling also brought foot-and-mouth disease back to Colombia last year for the first time in almost a decade.

“The biggest danger that we face at the moment is trade in contraband, in cattle above all, from Venezuela,” Juan Manuel Santos, Colombian president, said last month when welcoming a decision to lift a ban on Colombian meat exports. “In Venezuela at the moment there are no controls to fight against foot-and-mouth.”

The catalyst for the smuggling boom is Venezuelan hyperinflation and the profitable arbitrages it creates. Fourteen months ago, the Colombian peso and Venezuelan bolívar were at parity, trading at about 3,000 each to the US dollar. Now Colombia’s peso is worth 40 times as much as the bolívar.

Given the price controls put in place on a range of goods by President Nicolás Maduro’s socialist government, this makes Venezuela incredibly cheap for anyone with foreign currency.

Criminal gangs have seized the opportunity. Insight Crime, a Medellín-based foundation, says two big Colombian criminal groups, the Rastrojos and the Urabeños, are fighting for control of contraband around Cúcuta, a frontier city separated from Venezuela by a footbridge.

In the past four months of 2017 there were several gunfights near the bridge.

“This is a recent development,” said Major General Gustavo Moreno of the Colombian national police in Cúcuta. “In the first eight months of the year there

La Fria, Venezuela -­­ Some Venezuelan cattle ranchers no longer sell meat into the local market as it is easier and more lucrative to sell to smugglers

wasn’t a single such incident.”

Although Mr Maduro regularly lambasts unnamed saboteurs for his country’s economic problems and shortages, the mix of hyperinflation and price controls may be more to blame. Some Venezuelan cattle ranchers, for example, no longer sell meat into the local market as it is easier and more lucrative to sell to smugglers.

“They take care of the whole business,” said one rancher close to the frontier who declined to be named. “They come to my ranch, they pay me in pesos rather than bolívars and they buy 30, 40 or 50 animals at a time.”

In his office in the Venezuelan frontier town of La Fría, the head of the local cattle ranchers’ association, Isidro Uribe, acknowledges that “the Colombians are in charge”.

The most lucrative trade of all, though, is petrol. By some estimates, as much as 100,000 barrels of oil are smuggled out of the country every day.

The reason, again, is price arbitrage. Petrol is so heavily subsidised in Venezuela that it is virtually free. Motorists fill up their tanks for a couple of US cents, then siphon off the fuel and sell it to gangs. They in turn sell it in Colombia at a 2,000 per cent mark-up.

Unsurprisingly, there are enormous queues for fuel at Venezuelan gas stations close to the border, where sales are rationed.

“The biggest danger that we face at the moment is trade in contraband, in cattle above all, from Venezuela,” Juan Manuel Santos, Colombian president, said last month when welcoming a decision to lift a ban on Colombian meat exports

As 2018 begins, nothing suggests things will get better. In December, Mr Maduro floated the idea of using a cryptocurrency, the Petro, to skirt US financial sanctions on Venezuelan debt refinancings put in place by Washington last year.

“To overcome the financial blockade, this will allow us to move toward new forms of international financing,” Mr Maduro said during his Sunday television programme.

Meanwhile, the IMF expects Venezuelan inflation to reach 2,350 per cent this year, by far the highest in the world. At the same time, a 300,000 barrels a day fall in oil output to 1.8m b/d has all but wiped out the much-needed windfall that Caracas would otherwise have reaped from last year’s $10 a barrel rise in oil prices.

This year, oil output is widely forecast to drop by a similar amount again, making it even harder for the country to meet $9bn of debt payments due this year.

Indeed, Venezuela failed earlier this month to make a $35m coupon payment on bonds due in 2018. Caracas Capital, an investment firm, says the sovereign and state oil company PDVSA is now $1.3bn in arrears on debt payments.

Back on the frontier, business leaders are in gloomy mood. “We’re going to reach a stage where there is simply nothing left here,” says William Roa, head of a local Venezuelan chamber of commerce. “Venezuela hardly produces anything any more and the few things it does produce, like gasoline and meat, are all being taken across the frontier.”

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REGIONAL PUBLIC NOTICES

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The Government has agreed to proceed with the implementation of this section of the Act on a pilot basis and will begin with Medical Clinics and Schools. The Department of Environment is providing small grant funding for Schools and Clinics to assist with preparing their Site Environmental Management Plans. Further, the DOE will be providing the Schools and Clinics with a grant to reduce their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, which is considered to be a Pollutant under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (2015) and its regulations. Greenhouse Gases are causing the earth to become warmer and is attributed to the increase in super storms and more frequent droughts. To assist these facilities prepare their Site Environmental Management Plans and meet the requirement of the Act, funding is being provided via the SIRF Fund to facilitate implementation.

TENDER NOTICES

ABOUT THE SIRF FUND: SIRF Fund stands for Sustainable Island Resource Framework Fund. It is Antigua and Barbuda’s national fund to support environmental management and sustainable development through dedicated financing from a variety of sources. The SIRF Fund is legislated under the Environmental Protection and Management Act (EPMA) 2015 and can only support activities that are aligned with and facilitate the implementation of the Ac: http://laws.gov.ag/acts/2015/a2015-11.pdf

ABOUT THIS CALL FOR PROPOSAL: The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has received support from the Government of Italy’s Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea for the project titled, Grid-Interactive Solar PV Systems for Schools and Clinics in Antigua and Barbuda. This funding is designed to ensure that the Schools and Clinics can operate after a hurricane and during an extended drought. The project is designed to assist these entities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other waste and pollutants from the schools, and to promote knowledge about the environment while meeting the legal requirements of the Environment Act. This initiative helps Antigua and Barbuda to achieve its climate goal to, by 2030, achieve 100% of electricity demand in essential services (including education, health facilities, food storage and emergency services) to be met through off-grid and gridinteractive renewable energy.

GRANT AMOUNTS TO BE FUNDED Subject to the availability of funds, the SIRF Fund expects to award 16 grants. Each individual grant is a maximum of US$50,000 or EC$130,000 ECD per facility. The grant and activities must be completed within 12 months (by January 2019). The SIRF Fund

reserves the right to fund any or none of the applications submitted. Further, the SIRF Fund reserves the right to make no awards as a result of this grant funding opportunity.

HOW TO APPLY Applicants meeting the eligibility requirements (Section IV. Eligibility Information) are required to complete and submit the SIRF Fund Application Form. The application form can be downloaded from the Department of Environment’s website at http://www. environment.gov.ag. The project seeks to provide equal access and therefore special need schools are strongly encouraged to apply. Applications can be submitted in person or electronically by email. Completed applications can be submitted electronically via email to the Project Coordinator, Shema Roberts, Shema.Roberts@ab.gov.ag and copied to DOE@ab.gov.ag or deliver hard copies to the Project Coordinator Shema Roberts at the Department of Environment, #1 Victoria Park Botanic Gardens, St. John’s, Antigua.

The deadline for applications is 31st January 2018 at 4:30PM To obtain additional information or help to fill out the application form, call Shema Roberts, at (268) 562 2576 / 786 8256.

FINANCIALLY SPEAKING Financial Literacy 101 presented by Bank of Saint Lucia

MANAGING YOUR ASSETS & INVESTMENTS

Integration Phase Complete and submit client application forms and required documents Select the investment vehicles/opportunities that suit your profile Gain access to research and market analyses Benefit from investment services expertise

In keeping with the theme 2017 Business Month theme, “Promoting an Entrepreneurial Culture –Innovation & Creativity,” the focus this week is on the effective management of assets and investments.

The achievement of your financial goals and objectives is contingent on how effectively your wealth is built and managed. The first step is to talk to your financial and investment services provider regarding your financial priorities and the options available to grow and manage your assets. The next step is to devise an investment plan, in sync with your goals and objectives, which matches your investment profile with your “risk tolerance.” Risk tolerance levels are unique to each client and strongly influence how funds are invested. This is why it is very important to speak to your financial services representative. The typical process is as follows:

Investment services providers, like Bank of Saint Lucia Investment Banking Services, work with both equity debt and equity issuers and clients, to match the issuer’s needs with the client’s ideal for optimal returns for the given risk. The services offered include: Merchant Banking Services – tailored financing solutions f or projects in the following areas: Capital Market Feasibility & Advisory Services Arrangement and Structuring (Bonds, Equity, Syndications) Distribution and Management of the Issue

Assessment Phase Who are you and what is your investment experience?

What are your short term & long term investment objectives?

What is your risk tolerance?

Develop your investment profile

Faster, safer, more convenient

Brokerage/Capital Management Services – brokerage and trade execution services which include: Market-Making Equity and Fixed Income Trading Handling and Research Services Build your wealth by building strong relationships with your financial and investment services provider, and reap the rewards of your financial future.

Risk tolerance levels are unique to each client, and strongly influence how funds are invested.

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