Nathan London assisted investment and export promotion agencies in Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Malta, Nigeria, St. Lucia, and Trinidad & Tobago in developing export strategies for professional services. The project had multiple purposes: increase trade in services in order to diversify the economy; realize the potential of export-ready sectors; and court FDI to build export capability in others.

Our experts examined the export potential of numerous sectors, such as healthcare, education, engineering, construction, financial services, and IT. For each sector, we

• Assessed service capability, cost, and capacity for export;
• Evaluated demand for services in export markets;
• Analyzed supply-demand findings to identify opportunities for and constraints on exports of niche services;
• Consulted stakeholders on findings to build support for recommendations; and
• Developed marketing strategies and action plans for selected services.

The strategies covered policy and institutional changes to improve the enabling environment for the service sector, defined sector and service market positions, and described how to best promote professional service exports.

The strategy for Barbados was adopted at the Cabinet level. Malta began implementing fundamental recommendations in its strategy during the life of the project. And in Trinidad & Tobago, a 2011 Commonwealth Secretariat project is linking the competitiveness of the services sector with progress on realizing the strategic plan.