The Dominica Manufacturers Association (DMA), Dominica Coalition of Service Industries (DCSI) along with the Dominica Export Import Agency (DEXIA), and the Ministry of Commerce, Enterprise and Small Business Development have collaborated to launch a campaign to bring attention to the local products and services of Dominica.
The campaign dubbed “Buy Dominica Campaign” is carded for the month of September.
The main activities for the month include the ‘Buy Dominica Fair’ on September 23rd ,an awards ceremony for product and service providers carded for September 29th and a symposium for both the manufacturing and services sector on September 15th, along with media events.
“The main aim of this campaign is to bring attention to the local products and services of Dominica, so we will be promoting the need to support and purchase local products and services, but also emphasizing the need to increase capacity and quality for international sales growth,” Executive Director of DCSI, Lester Riviere said at a pre-launch ceremony held at DEXIA conference room on Wednesday.
He also outlined the objectives of the campaign which include: “To bring greater awareness and appreciation for our local products and services, to emphasize the need for professionalism amongst product and service providers, to highlight the importance of product and service quality, to emphasize the need for increased production and to sensitize product and service providers on the requirements to have their local products and services become export-ready.”
He stated further that there is a greater need for the building of relationships, deepening the bonds that exist or increasing the bonds between businesses and support agencies for the development of the business sector, especially the manufacturing sector and the service sector.
President of the DMA, Severin McKenzie said the initiative is a step in getting the Dominican public at home and abroad to appreciate the efforts that Dominicans are making in producing goods and services.
“During the month of September we will be hoping to see the work of our local professionals, our architects, engineers, hoping that we will be able to expose some of the works of our local professionals in the service industry,” he said.
Mckenzie noted that the products of Dominicans will also be displayed during the month.
“What we are asking for basically is to build up the awareness of the Dominican people in appreciating what we have been doing in trying to manufacture under strenuous conditions,” he said. “But when you go to the shops and you go to some other places and you see what we are doing you can see the potential that exists for the manufacturing sector in terms of creating goods and for the service sector in terms of the type of professionals that we have in Dominica.”
He called on the public to be part of the campaign, “because this is one of the campaigns that is really not for profit.”
“This is where we want all hands on deck to show greater participation because one of the things that we have recognized is that every time somebody comes up with a new product it’s helping the economy in terms of import substitution and also it has the potential of creating jobs,” McKenzie noted.
He hopes that this initiative will not only be for the month of September but it will take root for the last four months of the year and beyond.
Meantime, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Enterprise and Small Business Development, Esther Thomas said organizations must come together in order to achieve.
“We are in a global market and hence we have to get ourselves together so that we can launch regionally and internationally,” she stated. “For us to launch regionally and internationally there are standards we have to comply with, there are players we have to compete with, and of course, the international market itself is a vast market that has its own added requirement and no one manufacturer or service provider can achieve it on its own. Hence the need for us to pull our resources together, pull our brain power together…”
Thomas indicated that she is looking forward to see some of the excellent products and services.
“I am hoping that the service providers or the professionals in the service sector will rise to the occasion and add an added flair to that campaign…,” she stated. “We are in a global market and if we don’t rise to the occasion quickly it means that the other countries will overtake us in our own country.”
The theme for the campaign is, “Buy Local, Go Global: Building our Products and Services for Global Success.”
The objectives of the campaign are to bring greater awareness and appreciation for local products and services, to emphasize the need for professionalism amongst product and service providers, to highlight the importance of product and service quality, to emphasize the need for increased production and to sensitize product and service providers on the requirements to become export ready.
As a Nation, we continue to present ourselves as a LAND of many Rivers. I think it is fitting that post Tropical Storm Erica, (27 August 2015). A great effort should be made to observe “WORLD RIVERS DAY”, carded for the last Sunday of September, as designated by the United Nation, since 2005.
This year the Village Council of Grand Fond, in collaboration of Rosalie Bay Resort will be hosting their first Viyo Festival. This will greatly enhance the Go Local efforts being made to promote Dominica and the many gifts we are blessed with.
River Advocate
we also need videos highlighting Dominica like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGaML8Gg8JQ
Thanks for the video. Wow!
In September. When nobody is here and everything is closed.
October when there is an influx of persons coming to D.A. would be better.