ACS meets International Trade Centre

The Directorate for Cooperation and Resource Mobilisation (DCRM), under the stewardship of Director Ingrid Jacobs, and the Directorate for Trade and Sustainable Development (DTSD), under the stewardship of Director Safiya Horne-Bique of the Association of Caribbean States, held a meeting today with the Chief, Special Projects Office of the Executive Director for the International Trade Centre (ITC), Mr. Matthew Anthony Wilson, as well as Senior Advisor, Robertha Reid, and International Consultant, William Castro. 

During the meeting, ITC and ACS discussed potential avenues of cooperation, and exchanged their experiences in the areas of MSME’s, sustainable tourism, community-based tourism, youth entrepreneurship, women economic growth, connecting value chains, e-commerce, and digital trade. In addition, ITC provided information in regards to their Trade Market Tools which contributes enormously to the process of researching and studying in the areas mentioned above at all global levels. The experience and knowledge they have been able to build, as well as the results from the projects developed and led so far, contributes to better practices and better policies that enrich the Latin American and the Caribbean regions.

Cooperation and partnerships between ITC and ACS will increase and maximize the impacts of joint work in the region, as well as expanding the knowledge acquired during the processes. As Mr. Wilson well said “trade is tourism and tourism is trade” clearly defining the close link and spillover effect of the tourism sector, and why ITC is undertaking concrete steps to promote this sector. Ms. Robertha Reid explained the components of ITC’s SIDS strategy, which will incorporate a focus on tourism; a strategy the ACS Member States and Associate Members can benefit from. Whilst Mr. William Castro explained the different agricultural value chains ITC is linking to the hospitality sector in the region.

As Director Ingrid Jacobs rightfully addressed, this meeting becomes a very important stepping-stone in the path of forging powerful strategic cooperation alliances between ITC and ACS.

Other participating ACS officials included Advisor Ms. Safiya Reid, Advisor on Tourism Mr. Kennedy Pemberton, Advisor on Cooperation and Resource Mobilisation Mr. Lionel Michel, and Research Assistants Ms. Khadesha La Touche, and  Ms. Malikah Pino from DTSD, and Mr. Johakson Moncada from DCRM.