A recently convened meeting of senior Government Officials from the Office of the Premier, Ministry of Finance and other Government Departments with local manufacturing stakeholders has been lauded as a significant step forward in deepening partnerships, in relation to the development of a National Manufacturing Policy which would guide and promote the further development of the sector in the Turk and Caicos Islands. The meeting which was held at the Disaster Conference room in Providenciales, on the October 31, provided an opportunity to reconnect with the local manufacturing stakeholders and establish clear communication channels with the industry for information sharing.
The engagement was attended by representatives from a diverse group of manufacturers, ranging from persons in the food and beverage sector to steel-framing and manufacturing. The broad aim of the Meeting was to provide for an exchange of views on how partnerships between the Government and Stakeholders could be deepened, not only in the development of a Manufacturing Policy to guide and promote the development of the sector, but more importantly to forge a long term partnership to promote the development and growth of local manufacturing companies to effectively compete with imported goods in terms of quality and quantity, to the point where surplus local manufactured products can be exported and made available throughout the region and possibly the US and the EU.
The meeting attendees received presentations from key Government Departments (Commissioner of Labour, Customs Concession Officer, Director of Environmental Health, and Director of Investment) highlighting current and potential policies and legislations which should be considered in developing a manufacturing Policy. The meeting was held against the backdrop of efforts by the Turks and Caicos Government to attract inward investment, seriously l0ok at the issue of Food Security and to ensure that local manufacturers scale up collaboration with the Government to confront the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities associated with the economic revitalization of the islands.
During the Meeting, industry stakeholders placed strong emphasis on some common priority areas, for which policy guideline is required. These include the need to create the ambient policy environment to strengthen the productive and competitive capacity of local manufacturers. The discussions underscored the need for local manufacturers to formalize themselves as a unified legal body, possibly in the formation of a Manufacturer’s Association as a tool for further and continued dialogue with TCIG.
The Premier, Hon. Dr. Rufus Ewing commented, “the Manufacturing Policy will not only form the basis for the establishment of a manufacturing industry to diversify the economy in the Turks and Caicos Islands, but it will also form the framework that will allow us to eventually meet our long term goal of becoming a formidable industry as we aim to raise the regional competitiveness of the country. The development of a manufacturing industry will also have immediate positive impacts on the economy in the provision of jobs, there would be more security in the availability and provisioning of food for the country and it will strengthen one of our weaker revenue streams, that is, revenue from exports. A successfully implemented and managed Manufacturing Policy will ensure that the dynamics of our economic activity would eventually shift from being consumer and importer based to that of a producer and exporter.”
The Meeting also emphasized the importance of support in the areas of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures, need for clear and concise manufacturing standards. Participants also placed particular emphasis on the issue relating to the practice of “dumping” of inferior and expired shelf-life products into these islands by exporters from the US, Latin America and other regional countries.
