Curaçao: Building the Logistics Hub of the Caribbean

Ever since Europe discovered the Americas, the islands of the Caribbean have acted as a gateway between the new continent and the old: the Western world’s original hub of commerce and logistics. No other island exemplifies this as perfectly, or as powerfully, as Curaçao. When the Dutch occupied the island in 1634, they acquired more than just a harbor and salt, they gained entry into the Spanish-dominated trade with South America. Trade shaped Curaçao’s past, and it holds the key to our future.

TEXT GUILIE CASTILLO

The natural harbor, second only to Rotterdam within the Dutch Kingdom, as well as the recently modernized facilities at the airport and the e-zones, all contribute considerably to the island’s appeal as a logistics hub. But what makes Curaçao unique is a rare combination of factors:
• A European-standard legal system provides a solid base for corporate management.
• A sophisticated financial industry sector guarantees quality in fiduciary, administrative, advisory, and banking services.
• Treaties and benefits, available to Curaçao through the Netherlands, signify a worldwide reach: the EU’s Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) arrangement provides direct access to the EU market and its 360 million consumers, and the 1990 Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI II) allows many Curaçao exports duty-free into the US.
• Most remarkably, from a global perspective, the island offers human resources of extraordinary skill and education who are not just multilingual but multicultural.

This singular blend of attributes is the reason Curaçao is teeming with opportunities, particularly in the logistics sector. In an atmosphere of such promising potential, the financial assistance offered by the Foundation for the Development of the Logistics Sector (Stichting Ontwikkeling Projecten Logistieke Sector), or SLS, as it’s more widely known provides a timely boost. SLS funds projects that have the potential of significantly impacting the logistics sector of Curaçao.

SLS aims to achieve three main objectives:
• Improve the conditions in Curaçao by aiding in the development of a sustainable economy.
• Support the development of infrastructure specifically focused on the harbor, airport, and e-zones.
• Perform feasibility studies and prepare implementation plans geared toward the development of targeted projects in above mentioned areas.

Over the past five years, singly or as part of an investment group, SLS funded pivotal undertakings for the expansion of the island’s logistics sector:
• Curaçao’s participation in the Intermodal trade show of Sao Paolo (Brazil), the largest exhibition in the international logistics sector, for three consecutive years. Curaçao was the only Caribbean island to participate.
• International promotion to aid CARIX, the Caribbean Internet Exchange, in attracting international exchange traffic to Curaçao. As a result, significant new business came to the island, and the local community gained benefits in terms of bandwidth and internet speed and performance.
• A study to determine the feasibility of dehydrating distilled ethanol in Curaçao for US import.
• Commissioning of Dutch experts to research EU requirements for importation of meat products from third-world countries in order to determine the feasibility of processing said

products in Curaçao for export into Europe.
• Feasibility studies, planning, financing, design, and development for the second Megapier, as well as land improvements.
• Improvements in immigration and border control tasks at our airport, with the goal of gaining effectiveness in safety and security protocols as well as achieving higher customer satisfaction ratings.
• Provided help in funding a Tier 4 data center that recently opened its doors.

Some of Curaçao’s most competent professionals and representatives of the island’s logistics sector sit on the SLS Board: two members each from the Curaçao Chamber of Commerce & Industry and from Korpodeko, and one each from Curinde, Curaçao Airport Holding, and Curaçao Ports Authority. These seven members meet once a month, and as part of their agenda they review funding requests. The criteria to determine which will receive SLS support are strict, but simple: the project must be in line with the SLS mandate to contribute toward logistics development on the island.


If you have a project that meets SLS requirements, you may qualify for funding.
Requests are available through SLS coordinator
Ms. Kirsten Römer at
kirstenr@curacao-chamber.cw.