6 March 2018
The monthly meeting of the Economic Development Committee (EDC) was held on Thursday, 1 March 2018.
The following is a summary of the main items discussed:
The Committee was presented with the Sustainable Economic Development Plan (SEDP) consultation responses. It was agreed that land and immigration were significant inputs to economic growth and it is of significant importance that EDC representatives (representing the needs of economic development) were contributing to land and immigration reviews. It was agreed that a working group be established to update the draft SEDP. This working group would comprise of Councillors, Clint Beard and Cruyff Buckley, Government Economist, Nicole Shamier, and Martin George from Enterprise St Helena (ESH).
ESH delivered a report for the month of January. ESH anticipated a funding proposal from St Helena Fisheries Corporation (SHFC) to support a ‘pilot project’ as market research to trial the export of fresh fish to potential premium buyers in South Africa. The Private Sector Development Manager will be joining the fisheries ‘Improvement Plan Working Group’, and will monitor this pilot project should it be approved.
Following a request to explore the potential for the up-skilling/provision of training for someone to continue shoe repairs, ESH embarked on the engagement of existing ‘traditional trades’ businesses. The exploratory approach moving forward will be three-fold in that:
- An up-skilling initiative is extended to include other ‘traditional trades’ such as watch repair, engraving, upholstery etc
- Succession planning with existing (aging) businesses is considered
- Integrate the potential for diversifications and/or start-ups via the potential provision of direct training and/or train-the-trainer
The next meeting of the Economic Development Committee will be held on Thursday, 5 April 2018.
#StHelena #EconomicDevelopmentCommittee #EDC
https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt/
https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt
SHG
6 March 2018