Infrastructure for productive investment

Kitts-Nevis, Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Montserrat. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) will implement the project. The ECCB will relend A.I.D. loan funds through public and private commercial banks to private developers of factory shells and industrial parks, and of supportive infrastructure such as waste treatment, water, and electricity facilities; over 600,000 square feet of industrial space will be financed over the life of the project. Eligible developers will be required to show a subproject"s feasibility, pay at least 20% of its cost, and satisfy bank credit standards; the banks will provide developers with guidance in preparing proposals and will assess the finished proposals. Noncommercial banks and publicly developed industrial parks will not qualify for project loans. At least $2 million will be set aside to finance individual factory shells. A minimum loan size of $250,000 has been established to prevent the unmanageable proliferation of small transactions. Resident advisors contracted under the Investment Promotion and Export Development Project (5380119) for each OECS country will assist the project by identifying local partners, local financing sources, and potential investors, establishing communications between foreign and Caribbean subproject participants, performing feasibility studies, etc. Private investors will be responsible for all negotiations with OECS governments regarding subproject development and implementation. A Project Manager (whose salary will be paid for 2 years by the Regional Development Office/Caribbean) will help the ECCB implement the first 2 years of the project, which is expected to generate at least 4,000 jobs and $200 million in additional gross export sales from the region. To give each OECS country ample opportunity to participate, the ECCB will reserve for 1 year $500,000 in project funds for use by each OECS country.