Project Overview
OVERVIEW
The shocks caused by the decline in the banana industry due to the dismantling of the EU banana regime and the 2007-08 financial crisis has amplified the need to upgrade the St Vincent and the Grenadines’ (SVG’s) air transportation infrastructure; and increase the contribution of tourism to economic activities, including indirect contribution through linkages with other economic activities - primary agriculture, agro-processing, transportation, accommodation, art and entertainment, and other service activities.
The Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines (GOSVG) established the International Airport Development Company (IADC) in 2004 as the executing agency with a mandate to arrange the required financing and construction of the Argyle International Airport (AIA). Work on the airport has been ongoing since September 2005 and is scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2012 at an overall cost of US$ 226.8 m. Construction is being financed by a combination of grants and loans from a diverse group of countries referred to as the “Coalition of the Willing” but there remains a financing gap to be filled.
The Treaty of Chaguaramas mandates the CDF to:
• address economic dislocation, other adverse economic impact, and adverse social impact arising from the operations of the CSME, and structural diversification and infrastructural development needs.
• facilitate regional investment promotion and mobilisation; and business development and enterprise competitiveness.
Dominica and SVG are the only CARICOM Member States without international airports and, therefore, disadvantaged relative to other CARICOM Member States; airport construction is a critical component of these countries’ infrastructural development needs; and is also critical to their economic diversification efforts.
The project contributes to financing the construction of AIA and covers the:
• supply and installation of a stone crusher plant & base placing equipment.
• supply and installation of runway lighting equipment & generators.
• procurement of equipment to establish a full-fledged material testing laboratory for concrete and asphalt.
