DEXIA: A Different Approach
by
Neal Nixon
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The success of any
nation lies in its ability to transform itself into an export based hub. It
will be necessary that efforts from every organization, thus related,
reflect a strong, well informed and well prepared marketing army. We cannot
stand supinely on our backs hugging the delusive phantom of hope while we
seem to be navigated, that way, or by lack of force, the other way, to some
irreversible waters of crisis. We are, fellow compatriots, already at the edge
of the precipice.
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We must be ready for
when the markets are identified, when the product is in demand, and when the
channels of opportunities are opened. Anything less
than being ready will not be the fault of global competitive geography, but
rather the ineptitude of those in position (regardless of measure) to make a
change. New opinions are always
suspect and usually opposed; however, I beg the unprejudiced attention of my
reader on some thoughts respecting the Dominica Export Import Agency (DEXIA)
and how it can assist in this wise departure from "business as
usual."
TRADE OFFICES
Every
successful country has trade offices in other countries from which there are
large prospective buyers. The functions of these trade offices include the
gathering of intelligence on foreign markets, conducting research regarding
demand, distribution, wholesaling, channeling, warehousing, different methods
of payment, shipping, tariffs, and the like.
I advance that we
establish trade offices in the Unites States, Guadeloupe and St. Martin, with
others to follow as demand dictates. To reduce expenses in this process, the
National Development Corporation office in New York can serve as the Dominica
Trade Office (DEXIA Trade Office) as well.
Resources
shared between, and capabilities and core competencies transferred across the
trade office and the tourism office will give rise to added synergy and a
more improved presentation of Dominica.
Moreover,
there are many resourceful Dominicans and organizations in the United States
who have expressed a keen interest in helping (gratis) in this endeavor.
Some
of the organizations are Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences (DAAS),
Dominican American Relief and Development Association (DARDA), Examples of
Dominicans in the US (EXODUS), the Dominica Association of Washington, DC
(DAWDC), and the Roosevelt Douglas Foundation (RDF).
Many
of these organizations have already hosted Dominican trade shows in New and
Washington, DC, to name a few cities with some success. However, in every
instance it was not part of a systematic plan or on the initiative of DEXIA.
Many Dominicans
are made aware of Dominican products via my BUY DOMINICA e-mail newsletter.
Several have made purchases of Dominican products as a result or gained
marketing intelligence.
In
the information age such access to data is key. I commit, herein, to partner
with DEXIA in ensuring a dynamic marketing link via e-mail to the Diaspora.
Creating a serious and meaningful relationship with
the French Caribbean is something long overdue. We have been talking about
this possibility for decades. Establishing trade offices in Guadeloupe and
St. Martin will lay the foundation for the beginning of a special intimacy
between Dominica and its French neighbors.
The
prohibition placed on Dominican hucksters in Guadeloupe and St. Martin
effective October this year testifies to the urgency of the establishment of
trade offices in these Islands.
It
may not be expensive, if we use Dominicans already in place and arrange
payment for their services by a tracking system, which ties productivity in
marketing to fees paid. In essence a "Fee via Performance" model
which encourages the Dominican Diaspora so chosen to get busy.
EXPORT BANK
The United States, Singapore and other successful
countries have acquired many markets for their products through the
furnishing of intelligence and finance through their respective export banks.
An
export bank controlled by a Marketing Task Force, armed with a robust
marketing program can serve Dominica well. The bank would be responsible for
financing companies that are interested in selling their products overseas,
and will provide the support and the means of channeling their products to
the demand destinations.
BUY DOMINICA
I
must say that the buy local campaign of DEXIA is a noble one. We need to
initiate more programs like this in Dominica. However, it is important to
take the campaign to a buy-Dominica level. The buy-local campaign only
solicit Dominicans to buy local products, but the buy-Dominica campaign is an
initiative to create a global awareness of Dominica's products and to seek,
preserve and establish markets for Dominican producers.
It would be the responsibility of those in charge of
the Buy Dominica program to coordinate efforts with the Export Bank, trade
offices, Dominican organizations, Ministry of trade, Ministry of Finance and
the Ministry of Agriculture. The Buy Dominican team can also work with the
foreign embassies to ensure that Dominican producers have information
regarding every possible foreign business directory. China has a cheap and
abundant supply of raw material, so the Chinese embassy would be the first
that we should approach.
In addition, this team can be commissioned to guarantee
that there is a Dominican manufactured product or raw material competing with
a foreign substitute in every store/shop shelf and that Dominican products
are readily available and accessible at all times.
No program of that degree of importance can be
successful without a training program. The Buy Dominica team would be
responsible for educating the masses in general and the business community in
particular on packaging, branding, shipping, product care, product
preservation techniques and the like.
Marketing
legislation and a quality control framework related to international trade
standards would be established and strongly enforced to create and to
maintain a good reputation for Dominica's products.
This
law, in a great portion, will determine our longevity in markets and will be
used as a benchmark for all export endeavors.
I hope these suggestions find receptivity at the
highest levels of Dominica's Government, the AID Bank and DEXIA. However, the
Diaspora Dominican or organization should seize the initiative where possible
and identify local export businesses and partner with them to offer such
marketing services, or access to store shelves in their respective cities in
the USA, Canada, the UK or the French/Dutch Caribbean territories. No one can
develop Dominica for us, but us. DEXIA can help that development process
along where it marches along the path suggested.
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