Nevisians Mr. Everette Martin and Ms. S. Patricia Claxton, last Saturday [Mar. 5], joined Kittitians Mr. Michael Morton, Mr. Calvin Cable and Mr. Howard Richardson on a two-week trip to Europe.
The local contingent from the St. Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce is expected to spend one week in Birmingham, England, and another in Florence, Italy.
In a pre-trip interview with Mr. Martin and Ms. Claxton, Chairman and Division Coordinator for the Nevis division respectively, Mr. Martin said “hopefully the trip will bring additional investment to St. Kitts-Nevis, give them an opportunity to speak about Nevis and how they can ensure that the businesses in St. Kitts-Nevis are able to gain export and collaborate with other businesses in other countries.”
The two-week trip, according to Chairman Martin, is fully funded by the European Union and forms part of the Developing Eastern Caribbean Business Organisations [DECBO] project that seeks to “build capacity within the chamber.”
In highlighting the trip’s benefits to the Nevisian delegates, Mr. Martin said the chamber’s overall appeal would be enhanced, adding that the team will use the opportunity to showcase Nevis’ Bath Spring as an aspect of wellness tourism in the federation.
“We are hoping that the presentation that we will do will encourage persons to invest, not only in the Bath Spring, but also generally in Nevis so hopefully this will bring additional investment to St. Kitts-Nevis,” he said.
The Nevis division of the federation’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce is more than 60 years old. By ensuring that businesses are “at the forefront,” it promotes and looks at the interests of the island’s businesses.
“Most recently,” Mr. Martin highlighted, “the chamber engaged government in terms of looking at the Value Added Tax and what changes would’ve been necessary to ensure that businesses would benefit [and] that it would not be too burdensome on businesses.”
The chamber, according to Division Coordinator Claxton “is also in the high schools” as it facilitates the Junior Achievers Programme that teaches students how to start their own businesses.
“That is done on a yearly basis and there’s also the excellence awards that is done every year for students who would’ve gained a particular grade point level,” she added.
The Kittitian delegates: Mr. Morton, Mr. Cable and Mr. Richardson, hold the posts of Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Officer respectively.
(Parts of this article were written with content submitted in a Nevis Island Administration press release)