APPENDIX ‘L’

APPENDIX ‘L’

DRAFT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING CONCEPT

A National Development Plan may be as simple or as sophisticated as conditions and the need dictate. It must however be realistic as to resources of the country, objectives being pursued and the time frames for delivery of expectations. It must be based on defensible information which can be monitored, and thereby permit the Plan to be reviewed and revised, if necessary. It must have the widest possible community support. It should not be a political program but must present a national agenda.

Assuming that an acceptable political and community consensus can be developed on where Dominica should be headed, there exists a complementary need for a Schedule of Development Objectives, which will support and give credibility to the approved planning agenda. For example, these might include objectives with a social focus such as reduction and eradication of poverty; promotion of communal economic projects; economic empowerment of women; greater spread effects of investment to rural communities;

improved housing; greater accessibility to health care and education. Some objectives might target environmental concerns such as: protection of water resources; erosion and

sediment control; solid and liquid waste management; better foreshore, beach and offshore management; conservation of rare and endangered wildlife. These and comparable objectives for the many policy areas covered by the plan will be implemented by appropriate programs and projects, with necessary funding support.

Lastly, all programming and project development intentions should be indexed to operational phasing which recognises and embraces a network of forward and backward linkages for both public and private sectors. The entire plan of objectives, policies, programs and projects is made credible by a monitoring regime (review, regulation and adjustment), which allows the decision-makers to react to the progress of all proposals, and allows the public to see and understand how well (or badly) the established goals are being achieved.

Assessment Criteria

Some potential criteria in the selection of projects and the priorities, which might be accorded to them, are proposed hereunder:

1. Essential infra-structural improvements.

2. Projects which are catalytic in nature (give rise to other projects).

3. Projects having strong income/employment multiplier effects.

4. Projects utilizing available appropriate (but competitive) technology.

5. Projects resulting in local/regional imports displacement.

6. Credible foreign exchange earners

7. Low import material (volume/value) component.

8. Low environmental impact.

9. Skills available.

10. Joint Venture or Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) candidates.

11. Scale flexible.

12. Rural conformable.

The preceding listing is not meant to be definitive but is indicative of the type of criteria, which might arise out of a public consultation process and the relative importance which might be assigned to each. Once again, a knowledgeable reader and an investor is able to assess by reference to the list and weighting, the likely degree of acceptance that a proposal is likely to receive in Dominica. Fly-by-night or pipe-dream proposals can be summarily dismissed if they are “off the chart”. Proposals, which fit, even though they propose new and innovative approaches would obviously be well-received.

SAMPLE PROJECTS -- ACCEPTABILITY RATING

PROJECTS

RATING

Airport Capacity

Power generation

Flagship Resort

Spa Tourist Center

Pharmaceutical/Cosmetics Products

Plastic Containers And Products

Waste Management

Units

Agro-Processing

Wood Products mfg

Livestock (Hog rearing)

Processed Meats

Fish Farming

Fabrics and related

Products

Liqueurs, condiments,

Spices etc

While the above listing of projects and their rating of suitability appear to have some appeal and we are aware of some initial interest in a few of those mentioned, nothing in this proposal suggests that any or all of them are financially or even technically feasible at this stage. For example, if the island’s power grid is currently operating at or near its capacity, even at certain times of the year, such a constraint may frustrate all of the proposals which have a significant manufacturing or power consumption requirement. This, and similar issues, should be subject to more detailed feasibility analysis on a project-by-project basis. There are, however, some strategic considerations, which affect the priority and phasing of individual projects. Secondly, some proposals such as “hog rearing” may have some novel aspects to them which significantly alter the economics of production. Detailed work needs to be done on the nutritional value of local produce, alternative or complementary sources of food, delivery prices, etc. Thirdly, should hog rearing as proposed be technically and financially feasible, whether or not it gives rise to “Meat Processing” may be a matter of scale (minimum threshold of meat products for operation of a scaled processing plant). Also to be considered in this equation are issues of production management, waste disposal or recycling, regional market penetration of products, and foreign market opportunities. In all proposals, the suggestion of a “Joint Venture” approach has been retained. This does not suggest an inability of Dominican interests to operate such a facility. Rather, the suggestion is that if any facility is to achieve a desirable objective of significant foreign exchange earnings, it is critical that the operation be able to break into foreign markets and in this respect, if not in others, the aspect of co-venturing is beneficial.

While individually these project proposals may have appeal, the issue of cumulative impact on a small territory like Dominica, with limited technical skills and business support services, must be considered. Consequently, outside the private decision-making calculus, there must be a vigorous public, economy-wide assessment to determine and address deficiencies and bottlenecks in phasing. These patterns of interrelationships (material sourcing, equipment selection, operation, production, transportation, marketing and distribution) can all be further developed in greater specifics to such an extent as to assist a foreign representative in responding to prospective offshore investment interests, as well as to inform such interests as to how well their interests might fit within the national planning and development scheme.

[Formulations of this concept as proposed in this paper are already under discussion for data requirements and testing (in other jurisdictions) and to date there are some positive reactions to the approach. These results will bear watching.]