St Vincent and the Grenadines

The economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is almost exclusively dependent on agriculture and the terrain of the land reduces the amount that is arable, the ratio of land to person exposes a degree of concern. The economy of this Island has gone through rapid structural adjustments both economically and demographically and the political climate is conducive to business enterprise on the whole. The Government encourages and supports infrastructure development and concessions appealing to business.

In the case of the larger and more established businesses, the reason for not increasing capacity is that there is a limit on the possibilities of domestic consumption, thus reducing the economies of scale that lower unit costs and promote internal production of goods and services. Unless there is an export possibility, no one is willing to expand their business. Smaller and prospective businesses demonstrate that there are many ideas but that these are put aside for more conventional buying and selling businesses due to risk aversion.

Ideas are also lost either because the small entrepreneur is not able to sell them or because financiers are not able to buy. The lack of financing and technical training and the short-term profit mentality has hurt the creation of new businesses start-up. The main businesses started in St. Vincent and The Grenadines are in agro-processing, fishing, craft, furniture manufacturing, domestic and industrial sewing, construction and pastry making. Unfortunately, 75% of business started fail within the first six months of operation according to statistics.

To help and alleviate some of the poverty and unemployment problem, the Government has established certain policies and programs through the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Housing and Community Services. The Ministry of Education for example, gives access to free primary education and free secondary education to students who pass the Common Entrance examination. In addition, they have programs on Youth Affairs, Women's Affairs and Adult Education.

The Ministry of Housing and Community Development provide skills training, community self-help projects and assistance with books and school uniforms through the social welfare program.

In addition to the Government agencies involved, various NGO's are involved in providing adult and youth education and infrastructure development courses.