The Department of Economic Development has as its mission statement “coordinating Saint Lucia’s national development agenda through economic planning, sector performance evaluation, and resource mobilization to support sustainable growth and development”. The Department’s most recent economic planning output was the Medium-Term Development Strategy (MTDS) 2020-23 in which six (6) sectors referred to as Key Results Areas (KRAs), namely Infrastructure, Tourism, Agriculture, Health, Education, and Citizen Security, were prioritized to drive economic growth.

As part of the effort to formulate the next cycle of the MTDS, the various Sector Economists of the Department, in collaboration with key sector professionals, were entrusted with the tasks of:

• interrogating the country’s social and economic realities;

• thoroughly investigating Saint Lucia’s development challenges, risks, priorities and prospects, within the regional and global landscape;

• Assessing and reporting on policies and sector performance; and

• Identifying opportunities for growth in key sectors, in an effort to ensure socio-economic sustainability and resilience.

On Wednesday, April 27th 2022, the Department of Economic Development convened a forum at the Finance Administrative Centre, Pointe Seraphine to present sector diagnostic and framework to drive change using the principles of the Theory of Change. The main areas of focus were the Economic Sector comprising of: Agriculture; Trade Competitiveness and Productivity; Infrastructure; Tourism; Physical Development and Construction; and Sustainable Development/Environment, while the Social Sector entailed Citizen Security; Education; Healthcare; Social Protection; and Housing. In attendance were a broad range of experts and relevant stakeholders spanning the length and breadth of the public sector.

The results of the situation analysis were presented for active discussions and feedback which will inform a national visioning symposium- the results of which will be used to identify development themes and national development priorities and goals in the formulation of the next cycle of the Medium-Term Development Strategy.