The cultivation and export of agricultural crops, especially bananas, continues to be of critical importance to the economy of St. Vincent and the Grenadines despite its steady decline on the world market. Although changes in the banana marketing regime resulted in a loss of international market share and a significant reduction in price to the farmer, it is still the leading crop in St. Vincent with over 62 million lbs yield in 2008.

In lieu of the on-going challenges affecting the growth of banana export, the government has responded by focusing on diversifying the productive base of the economy with particular emphasis on agro-processing. At present, the Lauders Agro-Processers is leading the way in this sector preparing vacuum packed fruits and vegetables for local, regional and international markets.

There is also the Orange Hill Agro-Processing Laboratory which is jointly operated by Taiwan Technical Mission and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The major focal point of the laboratory is to diversify the agriculture items into different form of processed products. For the past few years, it has been in the production of dehydrated fruit (jujube, carambola, sweet potato), concentrated juice (passion fruit, lemonade, ginger), chips (green banana, sweet potato and bread fruit), ground spices (hot pepper and ginger) and ice cream (passion fruit and mango). These products with an annual production capacity of about two thousand pounds (2,000) satisfy the local market and the revenues reinvested into the fund for sustainability.

Some of the investment opportunities currently available are the manufacture of fruit juices, fruit based beverages, jams, jellies and marmalades using locally available fruits, and the production of desiccated coconut, coconut cream and coconut milk. Foreign Direct Investment into the manufacturing and agro-processing sectors has strong potential for any serious investor, and would reap mutual benefit for both any investor and the national economy.

Significant interest has been generated in the benefits of food processing in St. Vincent and the Grenadines not only as a means of exploiting the rich food resource but also as a means of improving nutritional status. A number of entrepreneurs have continued to progress toward commercialisation and there is now greater use of a number of local crops. Agro-processing utilizing root crops and fruit tree crops is being recognized as having good potentials for development to facilitate import substitution and for exports, and will also support food security.

The established policy objectives of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are to maximize the economic potential of the country in an effort to deliver higher and sustainable growth, eradicate poverty and reduce unemployment, and improve the general welfare of the population. The farmers, by reducing waste of fruit and vegetables, will not only realize revenue but also learn how to meet global market demand while at the same time generate added benefits to the food and the packaging industry.

Regulations & Incentives

The following incentives are granted in accordance with the Fiscal Incentives Act No. 5 of 1982 (as amended by Act No. 16 of 1991) by the government for the establishment and development of the manufacturing and processing industries.

Industrial Investment Incentives
Fiscal Incentives may be granted to an ‘Approved Enterprise. Such an enterprise must be engaged in the manufacturing of or must be about to embark on the establishment of an industry in the State to manufacture an ‘Approved Product’.

Upon receipt of an application for the establishment of an industry or where the application is received from an enterprise that is manufacturing the product, Cabinet may declare such an enterprise an ‘Approved Enterprise’. Also, Cabinet may, by notified order, declare any product an ‘Approved Product’.

For detailed information please view the SVG Investment Guide Here

The Government of Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, in an effort to minimize the country’s dependence on the importation of fossil fuels have shifted its energy policies to encourage the investment of renewable energy.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is a multi-island state comprising the main island of St. Vincent and a collection of inhabited and uninhabited islets and cays making up the Grenadines. 

The islands are home to a population of 103,000 people and cover a land area of 389 square kilometres. Aside from the main island of St. Vincent, other Grenadine islands with significant energy demands include the islands of Bequia, Union and Canouan. The country is almost completely dependent on imported petroleum products such as diesel (transport and electricity generation), gasoline (for transport), kerosene (cooking) and butane/LPG (cooking and water heating). 

 In 2010, the Government’s Cabinet adopted an Energy Action Plan (EAP) to be implemented within the framework of the approved National Energy Policy. The EAP outlines a number of renewable energy and energy efficiency milestones to be achieved through specific actions to be accomplished within short, medium and long-term time frames. One of these milestones is to reduce the projected consumption of fossil fuel in the transport sector by 15% by 2020.

SVG is heavily dependent on imported petroleum products for electricity generation, transportation, cooking, and other energy requirements. It has an energy mix with more than 83% petroleum base and about 17% hydro power with emerging contribution from solar PV and geothermal. The country is endowed with other potential indigenous sources including geothermal, solar thermal, wind and biomass.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is an excellent choice for the development of geothermal energy which will increase energy security and sustainability. The Government has embarked on a geothermal development project that will in its first stages generate 15MW geothermal power. The development of geothermal energy therefore, is expected to facilitate a more efficient electricity market, and underpin a more enabling business environment. Geothermal energy is a significantly cheaper and a cleaner source of energy that has a much lower environmental impact than conventional energy technologies. Should our potential be realized, this will have significant and positive impact on our fledgling manufacturing sector and give a competitive edge to many small and medium sized enterprises. It will also afford a unique opportunity to attract new manufacturing enterprises that depend heavily on energy input. This sector is very promising and will become substantially more so as new opportunities are explored.

Through Government co-funding and grants from different organizations the following projects have been implemented: