BRIDGETOWN CLOSING OUT OF FY 2008 BFIF PROGRAMS

UNCLAS BRIDGETOWN 000039 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR, EB/CBA, AND EB/EX E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG EAGR ETRO EAID EPET EINV BB SUBJECT: BRIDGETOWN CLOSING OUT OF FY 2008 BFIF PROGRAMS REF: A. 08 STATE 73258 ¶B. 08 BRIDGETOWN 11 ¶C. 08 STATE 34606 ¶D. 08 STATE 95 ¶E. 08 BRIDGETOWN 625 ¶F. 08 BRIDGETOWN 139 ¶G. 08 BRIDGETOWN 141 ¶1. Summary: Post conducted an ambitious business outreach program in FY 08 and BFIF funding was essential to carrying out our agenda. At the conclusion of each trip post drafted reporting cables. This is the fiscal accounting cable requested in reftel. Reftels contains most of our BFIF reporting and our reporting on the BFIF funded trips. We will provide our 2009 BFIF proposal septel. End Summary ¶2. Post requested US $26,000 to make one commercial outreach trip to each of our countries. Embassy Bridgetown is responsible for five countries of the OECS (Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia and St. Vincent) as well as Barbados, and we provide some commercial support to Embassy Grenada. We spent our FY 2008 BFIF funding on commercial outreach trips to St. Kitts, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, attendance at the Miami Conference on the Caribbean, and on training trips to Santo Domingo and Washington, D.C. We ultimately made BFIF-funded commercial outreach trips at a cost of USD $13,000 to St. Kitts and St. Vincent only. Post officers also made several other commercial outreach trips but without BFIF funding. ¶3. Our Commercial Officer attended the Miami Conference to represent post. There he met with many regional leaders and held useful discussions on setting up American Chambers within the region. He then went to DC for consultations with EB and with the U.S. Chamber regarding setting up AmChams. He subsequently set up an AmCham in Barbados and St Lucia. The St. Lucia AmCham is quite active, but the Barbados AmCham still needs some organizational work. St. Kitts and Nevis (US $3,027) ¶4. Commercial Officer, Pol Officer and Commercial Assistant spent a week in St. Kitts and Nevis meeting with local business leaders, and government officials involved in international trade and promotion. They also hosted the first-ever USG reception for the U.S. business community both in St. Kitts and in Nevis. Dominican Republic (US $2,569) ¶5. Commercial Officer and Commercial Assistant spent four days in DR meeting with FCS, attending a regional trade show, and consultations with EB, OPIC and FSC. St Vincent and The Grenadines (US $3,054) ¶6. Commercial Officer, Pol Officer and Commercial Assistant spent a week in St. Vincent and the Grenadines meeting with local business leaders and government officials involved in international trade and promotion. They also hosted the first-ever USG reception for the U.S. business community in St. Vincent. They met with U.S. businesses in Bequia and Canouan islands. The Canouan visit was the first official reporting trip to that part of the Grenadines in several years, despite significant tourism-driven economic development in these islands in recent years. Post met with the U.S.-owned Canouan Island development corporation and received an in-depth briefing on their development plans for the southern Grenadines. Training in DC ¶7. Commercial Officer attended PC 526, the Commercial Tradecraft course. He followed up on the course by inviting several of the speakers to make presentations at our commercial workshops. Post had requested funding to support our commercial workshop, but was unable to obtain it due to end of the FY funding shortfalls. ¶8. Comment: Post appreciated the support given by EB/CBA and looks forward to receiving additional BFIF funds to support our ambitious commercial outreach program in FY 2009. HARDT