St. Lucia to improve World Bank business ranking

The Department of Commerce, International Trade, Investment, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs will soon host the second National Forum on Doing Business in Saint Lucia.

Held under the theme “Improving Efficiency in the Business Environment,” the forum will help to assess the successes and challenges of the department in reforming the business environment in Saint Lucia, and identify the measures that will receive priority attention as it restructures the economy to become more competitive.

Some of the areas to be emphasized include the e-filing and e-payment project, which involves making online payments and the filing of taxes online; the introduction of an electronic process to improve the efficiency of the Land Registry; and the introduction of a single window initiative to address the inefficiencies in cross-border trading.

Having ranked number 86 in 2016 in the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business Report,” the department in collaboration with the private sector continues to work assiduously to improve the business environment to make it better to do business in Saint Lucia.

Given the importance of reforming the business environment in Saint Lucia, Cabinet has appointed a three member ministerial sub-committee comprising Hon. Bradley Felix, Minister in the Department of Commerce, International Trade, Investment, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs; Hon. Dominic Fedee, Minister with responsibility for Tourism; and Hon. Guy Joseph, Minister responsibility for Economic Development; to oversee the “doing business agenda” in Saint Lucia. The sub-committee may choose to include other ministries.

The National Forum on Doing Business in Saint Lucia creates an environment where all stakeholders can meet to address the issues and impediments to the investment process. It is anticipated that through such national dialogue mechanisms, Saint Lucia’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report will improve, and it will become easier to do business in Saint Lucia.

The forum will be held on Thursday, March 16 at the Finance Administrative Centre, Pointe Seraphine, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

For details, contact the Permanent Secretary Leo Titus Preville at 758.468.4203/ titus.preville@govt.lc, or Aretha Regis at 758.468.4265/aretha.regis@govt.lc.