From left: COCI Board President Benjamin Ortega; Dutch State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops; COCI Board Member Jennifer Carty, Board Treasurer Louis Bute and Executive Director Anastacio Baker; Head of the Office Dutch Representation Philipsburg Chris Johnson; and COCI Board Vice-President Bertaux Fleming.
PHILIPSBURG–The board of the St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI) met with Dutch State Secretary for Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations Raymond Knops last Wednesday regarding the country’s rebuilding efforts and the role of the private sector.
The key message brought forward by both parties after the meeting is that the country has many opportunities; the two parties can work together to facilitate further developing and building up the country’s human resources, expertise and business capacity in the form of strategic relationships, and business matching as a means to encourage joint ventures.
COCI told Knops it is ready to continue to take the leadership role in business development based on the concerns of the country’s business community in lobbying on behalf of its constituents for policy and legislative changes that would encourage and facilitate business growth and development for the long term.
The next step to be taken is to organise a joint activity in the form of a business-mixer within the next six months based on the momentum that has been nurtured.
COCI Board President Benjamin Ortega said in a press release that the content of the meeting was very encouraging, and he appeals to the business community to come forward to show interest in what areas they would like to pursue in the growth and development of their enterprises.
It was pointed out that additional improvement and strengthening of small- and medium-size businesses was key to the long-term sustainability of this sector to the national economy. Areas identified during the meeting were capacity-building, training, exchange of knowledge and best practices to build business development – soft skills.
Knops said he is willing to facilitate organising a trade mission for St. Maarten businesses to the Netherlands, and meeting with COCI constituents to hear their views and experiences, and learn about their best practices first-hand, adding that the sky is the limit for opportunities for St. Maarten’s private sector.
Based on recent activities to build back better, training sessions were held initially in St. Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba, and it was evident that there is a growing interest by local businesses in learning more about World Bank procedures, it was stated in the release. More training sessions are being planned that will give in-depth information and guidance of the process of tendering and procurement procedures.
These sessions have been organised until now by COCI, the World Bank, National Recovery Programme Bureau and the Dutch Representation Office. COCI indicated and reiterated its commitment to ensure that businesses wanting to play a role would be given equal and fair opportunity through knowledge sharing, joint venture matchmaking opportunities and continuous updated information.
Knops was briefed during the meeting about developments related to the St. Maarten economy post-Hurricane Irma; the increase in the number of new businesses that opened in 2018; that there were fewer business closures or those listed as inactive when compared to 2017; and the five key business sectors that grew: construction, foundations, retail stores, restaurants and transportation.
Knops pointed out to the board that every time he visits the country every three to four months he sees improvements taking place throughout the private sector, adding that things are going in the right direction.
It was stated how personal savings and insurance monies were invested to rebuild back better and stronger and to kick-start the economy leading to a pick-up in business activity. COCI will tap into Dutch entities with which it met during its working visit to the Netherlands that can assist with capacity building and networking with larger companies. These are the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce KvK NL, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency RvO and the Entrepreneurs Association ONL.
RvO is a Dutch government organisation that operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and stimulates entrepreneurs in sustainable, agricultural, innovative and international business. It aims at improving opportunities for entrepreneurs by strengthening their position and helping them realise their international ambitions with funding, networking, know-how and compliance with laws and regulations.
KvK NL officially registers companies and gives advice and support, similar to what COCI provides companies and legal entities registered in the commercial registry.
ONL is an entrepreneur organisation in the Netherlands that is the voice of the business community. It is a lobby group that looks at the interests of the business community and lobbies government and other entities about laws and regulations that could impact the business sector.
COCI board members explained to Knops that St. Maarten has shown resilience where the private sector pushed forward to get the economy going to stabilise economic activity and job security.
The board also informed Knops about its inclusion theme adopted in early 2019 which aims to enhance engagement with COCI registrant members through improving the level of participation. Inclusion also entails working together at the Kingdom level to develop and facilitate initiatives that would benefit the local business community.
COCI’s working visit to the Netherlands “is a clear indication of the inclusion theme at work where the wealth of information and knowledge gained during the visits to the different business-oriented entities and organisations will lead to new initiatives in St. Maarten for Chamber registrants,” the release said.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/88824-coci-board-meets-with-knops-on-rebuilding-role-of-private-sector
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