BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A June date has been earmarked for the inaugural St. Kitts Investment Promotion Agency (SKIPA) Investment Summit and Expo, which is designed to raise awareness of investment opportunities in the local economy.
Plans are taking shape for the event to be held June 29-30, and some 250 participants are expected to be part of the inaugural summit. Focus will be placed on the four major areas of local investment: tourism, information communications technologies (ICT) and manufacturing, agriculture and the financial services sector.
“We are hoping that we will spur a new birth of investment and that’s really the whole aim: to increase the number of new start up businesses and local companies that are doing business,” Investment Promotion Officer Stanley Jacobs told SKNVibes.
Organizers of the event say the summit will consist of various conferences, panel discussions, receptions and trade exhibitions and will be held under the theme ‘Exploring our Investment Opportunities’. According to Jacobs, participants stand to gain a better understanding of the investment opportunities that can bring benefit to their companies.
“We are trying to create that kind of network and investment environment for the generation and exchanging of ideas. From this new knowledge, we are hoping that participants will walk away and develop their own investment ideas and to put those ideas into reality via investing in the economy,” Jacobs told SKNVibes.
Though organization of the event is still in the planning stage, SKIPA already has a list of confirmed speakers for the summit, coming from a varied set of sectors. Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Hugh Riley, Kantours’ Denzil Crooke and Minister responsible for Tourism Hon. Richard Skerritt are confirmed presenters for Tourism, while Ambassador Wendell Lawrence and Sir Edmund Lawrence are among presenters for investment in the financial services sector.
Investment in agriculture will be led by Deslyn Moses along with representatives from the Taiwanese Mission, the Agriculture Department and CARDI. Presenters for ICT and Manufacturing include Wesley Wharton on IT and Carol Evelyn of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce.
Jacobs said the expo will give goods and services providers the opportunity to put their products on exhibit and to network with other businesses. He noted that for a service-oriented economy, it is important to engage local investors and businesspersons in meaningful dialogue.
“We are now starting our inaugural investment summit which we hope will be the catalyst for engaging the investment community on the local scene and continuing our outreach to the foreign investment market as well.
Interested individuals may contact the SKIPA office at 869 465 1153 for attendance to the summit and trade exhibitions.
