In the seventh of a series of interviews with local banking leaders, FICS Chairman Lorne Theophilus speaks live on the NTN Morning Update. Interview starts at around the 17-minute mark and lasts around 20 minutes.

In the sixth of a series of interviews with local banking leaders, CIBC Country Head Nigel Olivierre speaks live on the NTN Morning Update. Interview starts at around the 12-minute mark and lasts around 30 minutes.

In the fifth of a series of interviews with local banking leaders, First Citizens Investment Services Manager Omar Burch-Smith speaks live on the NTN Morning Update. Interview starts at around the 27-minute mark and lasts around 23 minutes.

In the fourth of a series of interviews with local banking leaders, Capita Financial Branch Manager Leona Cadette speaks live on the NTN Morning Update. Interview starts at around the 21-minute mark and lasts around 11 minutes.

In the third of a series of interviews with local banking leaders, Royal Bank of Canada Country Manager Sandra Fontenelle speaks live on the NTN Morning Update. Interview starts at around the 17-minute mark and lasts around 8 minutes.

In the second of a series of interviews with local banking leaders, Bank Of Saint Lucia Managing Director Rolf Phillips speaks live on the NTN Morning Update. Interview starts at around the 11-minute mark and lasts around 20 minutes.

In the first of a series of interviews with local banking leaders, Republic Bank Country Manager Gordon Julien speaks live on the NTN Morning Update. Interview starts at around the 23-minute mark.

The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Bright Sparks Programme has come in for high commendation from three of its most recent participants.

Jenielle Brathwaite from Grenada, Olivia Langhorne from Saint Lucia and Christina Cho from Saint Christopher (Saint Kitts) and Nevis, speak glowingly of their internship experience on this week’s episode of ECCB Connects, the Bank’s weekly public education outreach programme.

The interns said they were grateful for the opportunity which allowed them to gain practical experience in a professional Information Technology (IT) work environment. They were also able to transition from internship to full-time employment at the ECCB.

The ECCB Bright Sparks Programme is open to young people from the eight ECCB member countries who have training in Information Technology, bringing them together for an all-expense paid internship in the Management Information Systems Department at the ECCB. Since the programme was launched in 2017, five of the region’s young IT bright sparks have benefitted.

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The World Bank’s board of directors on Thursday approved the disbursement of US$30 million to the Saint Lucia COVID-19 Response, Recovery, and Resilience Development Policy Credit.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had severe social and economic impacts on the Caribbean small states, especially those that are highly dependent on tourism, like Saint Lucia,” Tahseen Sayed, World Bank country director for the Caribbean.

As such, the World Bank estimates that Saint Lucia lost 18 per cent of gross domestic product last year due to the almost complete halt in tourism.

With the credit facility, the Eastern Caribbean country should be able to reduce the negative economic impacts of COVID-19 crisis on its most vulnerable citizens. It also aims to strengthen St Lucia’s economic recovery from the crisis and enhance resilience to shocks in the medium term.

“This financing aims to provide Saint Lucia urgent support to protect lives and livelihoods and strengthen economic resilience,” Sayed noted.

In particular, the World Bank programme will help the government improve the capacity of the health sector and provide short-term relief to the poor, small businesses, and the most severely affected workers. It will promote measures to ensure business continuity and save jobs.

In the medium-term, the operation will support St Lucia’s resilience through structural reforms to improve public financial management, procurement, and debt transparency. Through reforms, the World Bank credit programme will also enhance the country financial resilience to disasters while strengthening education sector policies.

The financing, which is from the International Development Association (IDA), is interest-free with a maturity of 40 years, including a grace period of 10 years.

Approximately 400 jobs will be created in St Lucia with the opening of a new business processing outsourcing (BPO) centre.

The under construction itelbpo facility is slated to open in Vieux-Fort next month.

Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, who visited the construction site, noted the facility was a well-needed capital boost that will provide high-end jobs.

“Vieux-Fort is going to be an engine of economic growth on the island. We want to make Vieux-Fort competitive on a global scale,” said Chastanet.

“It’s not just about creating jobs. It’s creating world-class jobs. We are going to make the new frontier a reality,” added Chastanet.

itelbpo began operations in St Lucia in July 2020 after the construction of a 20,000 sq ft factory which houses more than 300 employees in the global services sector.

Founder and chairman of itelbpo, Yoni Epstein, said the company plans to create 750 jobs in St Lucia by the first quarter of 2021.

Epstein further stated that the pandemic has made evident the need to diversify vendors as well as locations.

It is understood that itelbpo may be eyeing the construction of a third facility on the island.