Doing Business in the OECS

Countries that are members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) vary significantly in the ease of doing business, according to Doing Business 2007: Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, a report produced by the World Bank Group.

The report finds that St. Lucia ranks first in the OECS on the overall ease of doing business, followed by Antigua and Barbuda. St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica, Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis rank 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th, respectively. All OECS countries fall in the top half of the 175 economies included in the global Doing Business 2007: How to Reform report, but there are important differences in their performance. St. Lucia ranks 27th, while St. Kitts and Nevis takes the 85th spot.

Economy OECS ranking Global ranking
St. Lucia 1 27
Antigua and Barbuda 2 33
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 3 44
Dominica 4 72
Grenada 5 73
St. Kitts and Nevis 6 85

Points of Interest:

OECS countries have already harmonized several areas of business regulations such as business start-up, legal rights of borrowers and lenders, bankruptcy procedures and contract enforcement. Yet, differences arise in how harmonized legislation is implemented in each jurisdiction. For example, despite the similar companies act, starting a business in St. Vincent and the Grenadines takes 12 days, compared to 57 days in Grenada.

The variation in performance is even greater when regulation has not been harmonized. For example, St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the world’s top performer on the construction license indicator—it takes 74 days to obtain a warehouse construction license and costs 10.6% of income per capita. Compare that to 195 days in Dominica or 34.9% of income per capita in St. Lucia. OECS countries can learn from each other as well as from other Caribbean countries and small states.

The greatest remaining obstacles for OECS countries are lack of credit information and inefficient courts. For example, no OECS country has a functioning and comprehensive credit bureau, dampening entrepreneurs’ access to credit. Also, it takes 681 days to enforce a simple contract through the courts in Dominica, compared to 247 days in the Gambia.

Download the complete report

  • Doing Business in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States 2007 (PDF, 1.3 MB)