Services industries major source of innovation: Minister Grant

“The services industries are a major source of innovation and providing essential infrastructure for trading goods,” Minister of International Trade, Lindsay Grant said, during his December 14 Budget debate presentation.

He commended the St. Kitts and Nevis Coalition of Services Industries (SKNSCI) for streamlining its best practices for the service industry.

“The services industries are critical to improving the economics of developing countries, thus we must ensure that our people are, and remain competitive in this line,” Grant said.

“The services sector is one of the largest growing sectors in St. Kitts and Nevis and accounts for 80 percent of the Federation’s Gross Domestic Product, it was established in July 2017 to further bolster the services sector.

“The Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) was established to build a larger, stronger institutional base to enhance the capacity and competitiveness of the citizenry that falls within the scope of this sector,” he said. “It is important that all of our service professionals take advantage as they would be positioned to work with the government to identify market access priorities in trade negotiations…, as well as to contribute to a domestic agenda that strengthens services in trade and export opportunities.”

Grant noted that it is important to bolster the services sector “because over the last two decades the expansion of world trade in services has been a power engine of economic growth.”