Impetus:

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• Impetus
• 5.9 growth in hotels and restaurants
• 7.8 wholesale/retail trade
• 4 government services
• 4.7 banking and insurance

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Tourism

• Total visitor arrivals grew
• 4.5 in 2003
• 15.5 in 2004
• Cruise arrivals
• grew 22.4
• 60 of all arrivals
• Number of calls increased from 262 to 328
• Stayover segment
• increased 7

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• Growth in European visitors due to
• Relative value of US dollar
• Perception of Caribbean as safe destination
• Tourism receipts account for 71 of total export
  of goods and services

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Agriculture

• Agricultural sector grew for first time since
  2000
• Bananas accounted for 47 of sector
• Expanded by 17.7
• Non-traditional crops accounted for 25 of sector
• Declined 2.4
• Other sectors
• Fisheries (.3)
• Livestock (-14.2)

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Bananas

• Total exports from Windward Islands increased
  15.9
• St. Lucias share grew by 3 to 54 of total
• Contributing factors
• Absence of marked dry season
• Above average rainfall
• Recovery from tropical storm Lily
• Increase in value of pound sterling

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• Factors leading to decrease in purchases include
• Movement of farmers out of the industry
• Weather
• Consolidation of two major supermarkets
• Despite growth in stay-over arrivals, hotel
  purchases declined by 2.3. There continues to be
  a need to strengthen the linkages between the
  agricultural and the hotel sectors. However,
  there are issues of availability, consistency and
  quality of crops supplied. Moreover, farmers who
  currently have working capital constraints have
  had some difficulties adjusting to the payment
  systems under which hotels operate.

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Manufacturing

• 6 growth in 2004
• Spurred by government incentives and increased
  domestic demand
• Constraints
• Diseconomies of scale
• Cost of energy
• Cost of shipping to external markets
• 7 of total employment
• Beverages constitute 50 of all manufacturing
  exports
• 11.4 increase in exports of beer

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Communications/Telecommunications

• Increased 4.6
• 14.2 of GDP
• characterized by lower prices and increased
  activity in all segments except the number of
  fixed line subscribers
• 7 increase in number of cellular phone
  subscribers
• 30 increase in number of minutes sold
• The mobile phone segment was the most dynamic
  and saw aggressive competition among its three
  service providers

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Electricity
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• 1.2 increase in electricity generated
• All categories except industrial recorded
  increases in consumption
• 2.7 increase in domestic consumption
• Vs. 3 increase in domestic consumers
• Number of hotel consumers remained constant but
  demand increased 4.4
• Consumption for street-lighting increased 38 due
  to electrification along highways
• Average price paid by LUCELEC to suppliers
  increased 30 to 3.82/gallon
• Fuel surcharge increased 23 to 22.6 cents/unit
• Highest in eight years

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Alternative sources of energy

• Solar
• Working with the United Nations Industrial
  Development Organization to develop a solar
  financing project aimed a promoting benefits of
  solar water heating and procuring solar energy
  amongst low-income households
• Wind
• Continuing to encourage development of wind
  energy
• Received technical assistance under the Caribbean
  Renewable Energy Development Project (CREDP)

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• Landfill gas
• Undertaken assessment of potential for capture of
  landfill gas feasibility studies have produced
  promising results
• Hydroelectricity
• Study conducted on potential of John Compton Dam
• Potential for construction of small plant with
  installed capacity of 200kW

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Misc. statistics of interest

• Population 162,311
• Birth rate 15.3/1000 population
• US rate 13.9 (2002)
• Kenya 40.13
• Infant mortality rate 14.7/births
• US 6.8
• Kenya 62.62

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Economic outlook

• Anticipate continued growth
• spearheaded by buoyancy in tourism, construction
  and the distributive trades
• Preparations for World Cup 2007 are expected to
  intensify with increased activity in construction
  and renovations of private residences,
  accommodation establishments and government
  infrastructure.

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• Properties expected to open in 2005
• Four new hotels
• 590 new rooms/apartments/villas
• Construction costs 85 million
• Properties under construction 2005 (130million)
• 30-home timeshare resort (Soufriere)
• 20-condo complex (Rodney Bay)
• 50-villa, 144-condo and marina facility (Rodney
  Bay)
• 300-room Beaches Resort (Rodney Bay)

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• Continued investment in road infrastructure
• Castries/Gros Islet highway upgrade
• East Coast Road
• Planned 34.2 million government expenditure to
  upgrade Beausejour Cricket Ground
• WASCO expenditure of 5-7 million on Northern
  Water Supply project
• Increase supply by 25