OECS: Support for Trade Policy Training at the University of the West Indies

Issues of scale, accessibility and resources mean that the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) face significant challenges in terms of management of national trade regimes and effective participation in regional economic institutions and arrangements. CTPL was contacted by the University of the West Indies (UWI) with the intention of jointly developing a 6-week professional training program in trade policy and commercial diplomacy to assist officials from trade and related ministries from the OECS states. The Organization of American States provided funding and coordination resources and core funding was also provided by USAID, administered by C-Tradecom (Carana Corporation). Based on the success of this program and a demonstrated demand in the region, the 6-week course was then re-configured as a full-year Master's program. This program is currently in operation and is fully subscribed. This initiative marks a significant shift from imported capacity building efforts to information and advisory resources that are locally-developed and managed.