The CARO Center organized a bilingual legal workshop in Saint Lucia on February 26 on the theme “Doing Business in Saint Lucia: Overview of Legal Risks”.

This event was part of a prospecting mission organized by the Team France Export (TFE) delegation of the Martinique Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Guadeloupe Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry, partially subsidized by the Ministry of the Interior and Overseas Territories. This mission brought together around twenty companies from Guadeloupe and Martinique looking to explore the business environment in Saint Lucia.

The workshop was co-organized in partnership with the Bar Association of Saint Lucia and the LEGAL PRO TECH law firm, based in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The main objective was to provide French business leaders with a clearer understanding of the legal issues essential for the successful development of their projects in Saint Lucia (e.g., taxation, corporate law, labor law, intellectual property, etc.).

Marie-Camille Pitton, Secretary-General of the CARO Center, and Solène Balaguette, Legal Expert at the CARO Center, gave a presentation on the challenges and issues related to international contracts. They followed up with a presentation of the CARO Center's arbitration and mediation services, key tools for securing Caribbean and international trade.

The panelists, members of the Saint Lucia Bar Association, were as follows:

• Leevie Herrel, Attorney at the Saint Lucia Bar and Partner at Leevie Herelle & Associates, presented the specific requirements of St Lucian law applying to foreign investors;
• Thomas Theobalds, Attorney at the Saint Lucia Bar and Partner at Brickstone Law, presented the main rules applicable to corporate law;
• Diana Thomas Hunte, Attorney at the Saint Lucia Bar and President of the Saint Lucia Bar Association, presented the tax regime applicable to foreign businesses under Saint Lucian law;
• Ms. Kit-Juelle Frank-Amoroso from the National Insurance Corporation covered topics related to hiring personnel in Saint Lucia (labor law and social security);
• Leonne Theodore John, Attorney at the Saint Lucia Bar, provided information on Saint Lucian intellectual property legislation.

Me Christelle Reyno, Attorney at the Guadeloupe, St Martin, and St Barthélemy Bar, and President of the LegalProtech firm, provided a summary of the workshop.

This workshop provided an opportunity for the CARO Center to reaffirm its commitment to supporting companies in the region looking to invest in Caribbean markets by leveraging its network of legal experts in the Caribbean.

To learn more about the actions of the Saint Lucia Bar Association: https://www.barassociationslu.com

To learn more about the Legal Protech law firm: https://legalprotech.fr/fr/