Introduction
The hardware and software industries in the Eastern Caribbean
are extremely limited and dominated by foreign companies operating as offshore
manufacturing facilities. The following information as to the existing
companies in the region was provided by the Eastern
Caribbean Investment Promotion Services (ECIPS), which promotes these
islands and facilitates business partnerships with U.S. companies.
ECIPS promotes the following incentives offered by the islands for companies
looking to locate offshore:
-
Tax holidays up to 15 years
-
Duty-free entry of raw materials
-
Repatriation of capital costs and profits
-
Duty-free access into the US, Canada and Europe
-
Pro-business governments
-
Skilled labor force
Hardware Manufacturing Companies in the OECS
The table below shows the companies that operate hardware
manufacturing faciltiies at present in the islands of the Eatern Caribbean.
|
Country
|
Company
|
Products/Services
|
# Employees
|
Ownership
|
| SVG |
Gunn Communications Limited |
n/a |
7 |
local |
| SVG |
St. Vincent Electronics |
Magnetic Components and Manufacturing |
96 |
USA |
| St. Lucia |
Caribbean Electronics |
Electronics Assembly, circuit boards, mold connectors |
30-35 |
USA |
| St. Lucia |
Cariman
Limited |
Electronics Assembly |
140 |
USA |
| St. Lucia |
Data Delay Devices |
Delay Lines |
100 |
USA |
| St. Lucia |
Manumatics |
Coil winding, Servomotors, Transformers |
35 |
USA |
| St. Lucia |
North American Assemblies |
CATV Products |
212 |
USA |
| Grenada |
W and W Electronics |
PCB Assembly, Harnesses, Cables, Socket Relays and Connectors |
129 |
USA |
Software Manufacturing and Information Processing
Services in the OECS
Most of the activities in the countries of the Eastern
Caribbean are related to information processing and not software development.
There are a few software development firms in Barbados, not listed here.
In 1996, the information-processing industry as a whole
was reported to have generated $38 billion and to have employed some 400,000
people. (1)
It is estimated that this number should exceed $50 billion this year.
The information processing services market from developing countries
will continue to grow and OECS governments are actively seeking to promote
their islands as offshore data centers.
The table below shows existing data processing centers
in the Eastern Caribbean.
| Country |
Company |
Product/Service |
# Employees |
Ownership |
| SVG |
Net Data Svcs. Ltd. |
Image based forms processing, Data Entry, litigation
services |
172 |
US |
| St. Lucia |
CARIBDATA, Ltd |
On-line data conversion, forms processing |
18 |
St. Lucia |
| St. Lucia |
Atlantic Int'l |
data entry; litigation support, insurance claims forms |
48 |
US |
| St. Lucia |
Palma, Lazar & Ulsh |
Insurance industry data processing |
70 |
US |
| Grenada |
Datalogic |
Image based forms processing |
300 |
US |
| Dominca |
Automated Data Solutions |
Image assisted forms processing (warranty cards, magazine
subscriptions) |
22 |
Dominica/US |
| Dominica |
Caribbean Data Services, Ltd. |
Data entry from paper sourced documents |
23 |
Dominica/US |
|
