Strategic Development Roadmap (STDR) for Curaçao

The Project at A Glance

Curaçao has been designing a National Export Strategy to increase foreign exchange earnings, diversify exports and drive economic development. The strategy focuses on transforming the economic make-up of the country through creating new value chains in services exports.
International Economics assisted ITC in the formulation of a National Export Strategy (NES) for Curaçao in order to help Curaçao increase and diversify its export base, thereby strengthening the island’s economic resilience.

What We Found

Curacao’s market access is hampered by its lack of trade agreements with its closest neighbours, although, the country benefits from a number of unilateral trading schemes, such as the one of the EU for Overseas Countries and Territories, or the Caribbean Basin Initiative Trade Partnership Act (CBITPA). Nevertheless, securing additional market access to foreign markets is crucial to expand the competitiveness of Curacao’s industry, and complement the country’s trade promotion efforts.
Government of Curaçao requested ITC to facilitate the creation of a National Export Strategy (NES) for the country. Our team was involved in the development of the first output, this is a Strategic Development Roadmap (STDR) that aimed at setting the priorities of the NES. The objective of the STDR was to identify the key sectors and trade support functions that, if strengthened, will lead to enhanced trade development and international competitiveness. Furthermore, our Team suggested an initial plan of action to ensure implementation of the NES begins as soon as possible.

Our Strategy and Impact

The drafting of the STDR draw deeply on the findings of the 1st Stakeholders’ Consultation (1SC) – a consultation that served as a platform for public and private stakeholders to discuss the challenges related to the performance of Curaçao’s export sector in light of the country’s supply capacities, business environment, and extenral market demand.
After a comprehensive analysis of outputs generated by participants during this first consultation, our team has developed the STDR which included:

A summary of the main competitiveness constraints facing the country
Audits of the country’s existing strategies and policies, transportation linkages, institutional mandates and services, and tertirary skills production
A vision for what future trade-led growth can achieve for Curaçao, and the strategic objectives of the NES
The rationale behind the selection of the priority sectors and the priority trade support functions
The results of the 1st Stakeholder’s Consultation
A detailed Plan of Action to enable implementation to start immediately
The proposed legally instituted structure to enable implementation to succeed

Our Core Solutions

As businesses seek to expand operations into new markets, the need to explore global supply chains and understand the international regulatory framework becomes crucial. At International Economics Consulting, we build tailor-made strategies for both import and export-oriented business solutions.