This was revealed in a government-commissioned media release which said the selected managers will be trained in “techniques of negotiating agreements in services and public procurement”.

Premier Andrew Fahie said he welcomed the initiative which is a joint partnership between local government and a United Kingdom company called LSE Consulting Ltd.

“I am happy to see the collaboration of the government and LSE Consulting. I am even more delighted to know that the senior managers of the public service are further improving their skills set to better contribute to the government of the Virgin Islands and the wider Territory,” Premier Fahie stated.

“I know that we are moving in the right direction by investing in workshops such as these for capacity building of our public officers,” the Premier added.

Meanwhile, Financial Secretary Glenroy Forbes said he believes initiatives such as the Short Programme on Trade Negotiations will benefit the financial sector of the territory immensely.

“For years I have championed the virtues that capacity building in this area holds for the public service and the territory by extension,” Forbes said. “The new skills set to be developed by the participants will go a long way in ushering in a wave of efficiency, savings and greater focus for effective expenditure.”

At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to effectively create negotiation strategies and use analytical tools to better determine factors which shape negotiations.

The training will be facilitated by two senior experts in trade/international economic negotiations from LSE Consulting Ltd, Dr Elisa Garnizova and Dr Stephen Woolcock.