Who we are
The Saint Lucia Coalition of Service Industries (SLCSI) is the national umbrella body that brings together all service sector organizations in Saint Lucia. It functions as a focal point to lobby, channel and address trade in services issues which are critical for the sector to thrive in the competitive global environment.
Our Mission
To facilitate the growth and development of the Saint Lucia Services Sector, through the adoption of high service standards, fostering activism and education on trade in services issues, and promoting the pursuit of strategies to sustain service providers’ competitiveness in the global marketplace.
Why is the SLCSI important?
The development of the services sector is an important element of Government’s overall drive to diversify the economy and create employment. The SLCSI assists in trade negotiations and works to strengthen the local private sector to face the challenges and opportunities arising from decisions taken at the World Trade Organization; seize opportunities through the CARIFORUM EU Economic Partnership Agreement; the CARICOM Single Market and Economy; the OECS Economic Union, and other trading arrangements.
What does the SLCSI Do?
The SLCSI is dedicated to representing the interests of Saint Lucia’s services sector, which generates approximately 80 percent of the island’s economic output. SLCSI is committed to promoting greater public awareness of the major role services play in the economy, and shaping domestic and regional economic policies on behalf of the services sector. The SLCSI’s goals include assisting in the development of domestic regulations to enhance the competitiveness of Saint Lucia’s services sector; enhancing bilateral services trading relationships, and the reducing barriers to services trade with our trading partners.
Our History
In 2001, the CARICOM Heads of Government agreed to the formation of national Services Coalitions in each member state of the Community as a mechanism for supporting the development of the region’s Services Sector. The SLCSI was officially launched in 2009 as the lead business support organization for services in Saint Lucia. SLCSI seeks to promote global relationships and to support services in all professional and skilled areas.
General Facts on Services Coalitions
Service coalitions are a recent phenomena, the first being formed in the 1980s to ensure that concerns of service firms were well represented in the Uruguay Round of the World Trade Organization.
Examples of active coalitions are:
- U.S. Coalition of Service Industries
- European Services Forum
- Australian Services Roundtable
- Uganda Service Exporters Association
- Barbados Coalition of Service Industries
- Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Service Industries
- Guyana Coalition of Service Providers