The Inter-American Development Bank, the Government of Barbados and the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a seminar to discuss insights on key issues on the impact of logistics and trade facilitation on competitiveness in Barbados and the Caribbean region. The event promoted dialogue among experts, government officials and private sector representatives in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Three thematic sessions conducted by international experts and Caribbean speakers focused on efficiency and security in international supply chains; trade facilitation, customs and cargo community systems; and logistics and maritime transportation.
Topics discussed included how to reduce time and costs of moving goods across borders, improving effectiveness of customs and government control agencies; ways to improve logistics practices at the firm level with a focus on improving sourcing, inventory and warehouse management and distribution practices; and a renewed approach to facilitate the development of multimodal transport and to increase levels of interconnectivity among Caribbean countries.
"It is only recently that logistics, supply chain management and trade facilitation have emerged as key vehicles to improve competitiveness," said IDB Representative Mr. Bruce Juba.
"In the case of the Caribbean region, and particularly for Barbados, heavy dependence on imports to support local production and to satisfy consumer demand as well as dependence onexport revenues to sustain economic growth, mean that moving goods efficiently at reasonable costs across borders will be critical in order to improve their competitive position going forward," he added.
The IDB is supporting the Caribbean countries in their efforts to improve their competitiveness through several national and regional programs focused on improving business climate, promoting trade facilitation initiatives and enhancing public-private dialogue.
Inter-American Development Bank
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