Saint Vincent and Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island nation in the Caribbean comprised of 32 islands and cays—the main island of Saint Vincent and the northern Grenadines—and is an upper middle-income country with a GDP of 811.3 million USD in 2018. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has an agricultural sector that is responsible for generating 7.1% of the country’s GDP and produces agricultural and fisheries products that include bananas, coconuts, spices, and fish. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which has led to new opportunities in the agricultural and fisheries industries as the economy adapts and diversifies, such as commercial seamoss harvesting and processing. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines also has an industrial sector that is responsible for 17.4% of GDP and includes industries such as construction as well as a manufacturing industry that produces goods that include processed food, furniture, cement, and clothing.

The largest economic component of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is the service sector, which accounts for 75.5% of GDP and includes industries such as tourism and financial services. In particular, the tourism industry of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which saw 80,000 visitor arrivals in 2018, is a major driver of economic growth. To ensure tourism in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines—an industry heavily reliant on the country’s natural resources and cultural heritage—continues to flourish, a number of projects have recently been carried out, such as the construction of a geothermal plant on the main island of Saint Vincent and the restoration of Ashton Lagoon on Union Island. As well, the tourism industry of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has benefited from an increase in national construction activities, with the completion of the country’s first international airport (Argyle International Airport) in 2017.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines also has an expanding startup community with supports available for growing small businesses, such as an incubator and an investment network. As well, there are numerous NGO’s across Saint Vincent and the Grenadines that assist entrepreneurs in establishing sustainable businesses that concurrently diversify the economy, such as apiculture. A new promising area of potential collaboration with startups based in Saint Vincent in the Grenadines is waste management and the development of sustainable packaging materials, as the country is phasing out many forms of single-use plastics between 2020 and 2021.