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04/07/2005

Press Release

USAID-funded Workshop to Enhance Skills of Region's Statisticians

Over 60 statisticians, economists, and related personnel from all Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states will gather in Barbados from April 11-13 for a specialized training workshop aimed at enhancing their skills in the area of international trade in services and foreign direct investment statistics.

The workshop is part of a broader “Trade in Services Statistics Project” being jointly implemented by the United States Government through the US Agency for International Development's Caribbean Trade and Competitiveness Development Program (C-TRADECOM) and the CARICOM Secretariat. The Barbados Statistical Service and the Centre for International Services, University of the West Indies, will co-host the workshop.

The objective of the workshop is to develop capacity in collection and compilation of statistics on international trade in services and investment flows in order to facilitate meaningful participation in negotiations at international, hemispheric, and regional levels. Accurate and available statistical data on trade services is crucial to trade ministries and associated offices to develop informed negotiation positions.

With trade and services statistics expected to assume a greater role in the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the workshop also aims to provide focused training and technical assistance to prepare statisticians to administer new statistical systems in member states.

One of the key objectives of the Trade in Services Statistics Project is to enable regional countries to adopt a harmonized approach to the development of statistics through the preparation of common guidelines that will inform the production of these statistics. The project is part of the USAID-funded C-TRADECOM which seeks to improve the legislative and policy framework to support free trade and competition and to advance the implementation of trade obligations.