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The packaging and promotion of any product or service is critical to attract customers and gain sales.  The same is true for investment opportunities.  The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), in partnership with the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) recently hosted a training workshop in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) focused on improving the quality of investment project information to make them more attractive to potential investors.

The 5-day training workshop was delivered by UNIDO with a focus on enhancing the capacity of the Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) to better identify investment opportunities, as well as the formulation and appraisal of investment projects. “The need of developing countries in upgrading local skills and capabilities in the preparation and appraisal of pre-investment studies, calls for appropriate capacity building support, including adequate human resource development,” notes Dr. Umesh Menon, UNIDO trainer for the workshop.

The 22 Caribbean participants from 16 Caribbean territories were trained in the use of the flagship software of UNIDO – Computer Model for Feasibility Analysis and Reporting (COMFAR III Expert- Basic Version). COMFAR facilitates the fast computation of financial statements needed for financial and economic appraisal of investment projects. The software can be used for small- to large-scale projects, expansion, rehabilitation and modernization of existing enterprises and joint ventures.

Commenting at the opening of the workshop, the Jr. Minister for Trade & Economic Development of the BVI, Sharie B. de Castro, shared that, “The BVI is in the process of establishing our Trade and Investment Promotion Agency. It is important to us to develop a core group of professionals who are well versed in investment project identification, preparation and appraisal. This will ultimately lead to well-planned investment projects and prudent investment decisions.”

“Caribbean Export is committed to enhancing the knowledge and skills of the IPAs of the Caribbean,” commented Suzette Hudson, Senior Advisor in Investment Promotion at the Agency. “This training forms part of a broader collaborative framework that CAIPA and UNIDO have established with the aim to provide investment monitoring and promotion support to IPAs in the region and strengthen regional investment promotion efforts.

The workshop was funded by the European Union via the 11^th European Development Fund, Regional Private Sector Development Programme and the European Development Fund/Intra-ACP Private Sector Development Facilities and Programmes.

Participating countries included: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.       

In 2009, Christal Oliver breathed life into her fashion accessory brand Olive Art Designs (OAD) as she sat in a laboratory at the St. Vincent Girls’ High School stitching together her first bag. Fast forward a decade, and Christal is breathing new life and history into OAD, as the winner of Invest SVG’s inaugural ‘Pitch It Vincy’ initiative.

Last Tuesday, October 29, the Glen resident held off stiff competition from six other finalists to gain the judges’ nod as overall winner – receiving a cash prize of US$2,000 and, probably most importantly, mentorship from industry experts to help grow her business.

“It feels surreal,” mused Christal. “It’s a lot more than a business win. It’s a personal win because it means that I have successfully overcome a few things that were holding back my progress. Developing the right mindset for success and positivity isn’t an easy feat!”

The 28-year-old entrepreneur was one of many Vincentians who applied when the Angel Investing initiative was launched by Invest SVG in June 2019. Seven finalists were shortlisted in August 2019, and from that point onward, they received expert training through group and one-on-one sessions.

Finalists also took part in a mock pitch event that saw them pitching to local high net-worth business owners, who provided constructive feedback. Christal recalled that the feedback they received during the mock pitch and training sessions was “vital” to their preparations for the final. “The feedback was honest and, at times, we may not have liked what was said; but it was what we needed to hear before going in.”

She expressed deep gratitude to the staff at Invest SVG, Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) and everyone else who contributed to the preparation period for the finalists. Despite the various challenges faced by the finalists, Christal said it was an overall positive experience because it boosted their confidence and raised awareness of their brands.

“I entered Pitch It Vincy because I saw an opportunity for investment. In St Vincent and the Grenadines, small business owners face difficulty in acquiring capital for their ideas – especially if they don’t have collateral. I believed in my product and I felt that even if I didn’t win, whatever came from it would be exactly what I needed for OAD at this moment,” she explained.

Christal is a past student of the St Vincent Girls’ High School and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College. She worked at the CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank as a Customer Service Representative for seven years and was the second runner-up in the 2017 Miss SVG pageant. Currently, she is a co-host on the Wake-Up Call morning programme on Xtreme FM radio station; and is “very involved” in the Epic Sounds Steel Orchestra and the Youlou Pan Movement.

“I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner for OAD!” enthused Christal.

She divulged that within hours of winning Pitch It Vincy 2019, several opportunities have been presented to her – some of which she is not at liberty to share just yet.

“Investors have expressed interest in the business… It’s only a matter of shaking hands and coming to a final agreement. I’m confident that it’s only going to get better from here. I’m never going to give up!”

Christal added: “If someone had told me 10 years ago, while I was eagerly stitching that first bag at GHS, that I would win the first Pitch It Vincy… be a fashion accessory designer and have my own business, I would have laughed and walked the other way.”

She encourages all Vincentian entrepreneurs to take part in Pitch It Vincy 2020, and to start preparing as soon as possible – instead of waiting for the application period to open. Her advice includes: creating a milestone chart with a list of company goals; getting business accounts in order; conduct proper market research; be open-minded and willing to take advice; and gather a support system of people who genuinely care about your success.

Christal also shared that she intends to make OAD an “internationally recognized brand” within the next five years.

“St Vincent and the Grenadines will be known as the origin of one of the best fashion accessory brands in the world and the company will have at least one other brand under its wing.

I’m not sure how it’s going to be, but it will happen!”

This article was originally published on the Searchlight website

Jamaica has joined 28 other nations, including several Caribbean states, that have developed online investment guides (iGuides).

These facilities are repositories of information for local and foreign investors interested in doing business in the respective countries.

Work to develop the guides was led by local stakeholders, principally countries’ investment promotion agencies in several instances, in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) spearheaded development of the country’s iGuide, which also involved inputs from the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA), and the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA).

The information, which is hosted on UNCTAD’s website, can also be accessed on JAMPRO’s platform from any location globally.

It facilitates a comparison of Jamaica as an investment destination, alongside other countries globally.

The iGuide is intended to provide investors with information at their fingertips that will help them in their decisions to invest in Jamaica.

Among the focus areas are manufacturing, agri-business, energy, the creative industries, the knowledge sectors, mining, tourism, and the Logistics Hub Initiative (LHI) and the partner Special Economic Zone (SEZ) framework.

A foreign translation feature has also been incorporated to facilitate ease of communication.

The iGuide was formally launched and symbolically handed over recently to JAMPRO President, Diane Edwards, by UNCTAD Economist, Ian Richards, who spearheads the overall investment guide programme.

The agency will serve as the facility’s custodian and will be responsible for, among other things, keeping the site’s information up to date.

The presentation was made during a brief ceremony at JAMPRO’s head office in New Kingston.

Ms. Edwards, who is CAIPA’s Immediate Past President, said the iGuide is an important tool and welcome addition to investment promotion in Jamaica.

Noting that the local investment climate is “extremely positive”, she said the iGuide “is going to take that information out to the world in a form that is really using best practice”.

Ms. Edwards assured that as the country’s national investment and promotion agency, JAMPRO remains committed to improving the business environment.

“Our constant focus is on how do we make it easier for people to do business in Jamaica… . How do we make the business environment more open and how do we make businesses feel more welcome in Jamaica. All of that is important to us,” she said.

Ms. Edwards noted that JAMPRO serves as the Secretariat for the National Competitiveness Council, which manages Jamaica’s business environment reform agenda, intended to ensure that businesses feel the difference that this undertaking is going to make for them.

“Already we see that they are feeling it, because Jamaica recently jumped four places in the [World Bank’s] Doing Business Report, to number 71 out of 140 countries,” she added.

Ms. Edwards encouraged stakeholder interests to utilise the guide and disseminate it “as much as possible”.

“We think it has really good information. We want you to tell everyone about it… that it is a tool, not only for foreign businesses, but for local businesses to use to develop their business cases and present their projects,” she said.

For his part, Mr. Richards said UNCTAD’s aim and role in advancing the iGuide “is really to support the Government in implementing Vision 2030 Jamaica as part of the UN’s overall development assistance framework”.

This, he noted, is being done in tandem with the other UN and international organisations in Jamaica.

“We know that it has been a difficult time for the region, according to the UNCTAD data, in terms of attracting foreign direct investments. But for Jamaica, I think these are very exciting times,” he said.

Of note, Mr. Richards said, is the Logistics Hub Initiative and accompanying Special Economic Zones.

“We are very excited by that because, given all that Jamaica already has – a good business infrastructure, a supportive government, a good education system, good market access – this will provide spillovers, linkages and opportunities for many different sectors in Jamaica… particularly new sectors… and will also lead to more jobs, more wealth, and more development for the country. So, that’s very important for us,” he added.

The UNCTAD Executive said the organisation is “very happy” to be working with JAMPRO and other stakeholders, to attract and facilitate investment for the “new, exciting and promising sectors in Jamaica”.

Other Caribbean states that he said have developed investment guides are Antigua and Barbuda, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia.

“We will be launching one for Curaçao in November next, and early next year, we will be launching iGuides in Barbados and St. Kitts,” Mrs. Richards further informed.

The extent of the platform’s development also incorporates countries in Asia and Africa, among other locations.

This article was originally published on the Jamaica Information Service website

UNESCO and CARIFORUM will organize panel discussions on culture and trade in Bridgetown, Barbados on 5 November 2019. The event marks the launch of “Culture in the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement – Rebalancing trade flows between Europe and the Caribbean?”, the first impact study on this landmark EPA concluded in 2008, with a dedicated Protocol on Cultural Cooperation.

Cultural and creative industries possess an immense potential to contribute to the region’s long-term economic growth through employment of young people and cultural content productions. The representation of Caribbean cultural products on the global stage, however, is limited. In 2014, as reported in UNESCO’s Global Report Re|Shaping Cultural Policies (2018),Global South countries accounted for only 26.5% of global cultural exports. The public debates, titled Create|2030, will explore ways to establish a more balanced cultural trade and improved mobility for artists in the Caribbean. Cultural trade experts on the panel will examine the future of creative industries and their role in the Caribbean’s sustainable development. Artists and cultural professionals are invited to attend and share their insights and perspective.

The event will also present the main findings of the impact study funded by the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals and guided by the principles of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005). The research has revealed that the Agreement’s cultural protocol, which grants Caribbean creative workers and their creations a preferential and simplified access to the EU market, has not yet resulted in a more balanced relationship between the two regions’ cultural and creative industries. Despite significant commitments undertaken by the EU, there is currently no dedicated funding or cultural cooperation programme to implement the cultural provisions and benefit the artists. Discussions will therefore focus on unexplored opportunities arising from Article 16 of the UNESCO’s 2005 Convention, the inspiration for the EPA’s cultural protocol, which calls on developed countries to provide “preferential treatment for developing countries” and their artists through various initiatives such as special visas for artists and cultural workers from developing countries or audio-visual coproduction schemes.

Percival Marie, Director General of CARIFORUM, Ambassador Daniela Tramacere, Head of the European Union Delegation to Barbados, Eastern Caribbean States, OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, and Danielle Cliche, UNESCO Chief of Diversity of Cultural Expressions and Secretary of the 2005 Convention, will deliver remarks.

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Event website: http://bit.ly/cariativity

As seating is limited, please RSVP by 3 November to Andrea Richards at a.richards@unesco.org

Interview opportunities with UNESCO representatives and international cultural trade experts are available to media professionals. To schedule an interview, please contact a.richards@unesco.org

By Kenton X. Chance

NIAMEY, Niger (CMC) — Outfits, handbags, shoes and accessories from a number of Caribbean designers and a self-taught Nigerien designer generated a buzz at a fashion show here on Saturday night.

The show was held as part of the fifth meeting of Ministers of Culture from the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states at a time when the bloc is focusing on the potential contribution of culture to national development.

The Caribbean designs came from the French-, Spanish- and English-speaking countries and were brought together by Caribbean Fashion Showroom, which dubs itself “the home for the region’s leading designers”.

The event was organised by the Barbados-based Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in collaboration with the Brussels-based secretariat of the ACP.

“What we have seen today is the true collaboration between Africa and the Caribbean, promoting fashion, promoting handicraft, promoting talent and culture from our countries,” Escipión J. Oliveira, deputy executive director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) after the event.

He said his agency took advantage of the opportunity of the four-day meeting, which ended on Sunday, “to present to our African brother and sisters and also Pacific brothers and sisters that we can collaborate to gain markets”.

Oliveira said that what patrons saw on the catwalk was the result of a collaboration between a large cross-section of Caribbean artisans who make outfits, accessories, shoes and handbags.

“This is just a sample but we are working together with the European Union and with the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) directorate to promote competitiveness of our small and medium-size enterprises.”

The show was held at a time when the ACP is focusing on the potential of culture and its expression as a contributor to the development of its member countries.

“And the fashion industry and the jewellery industry is part of the culture industry and is part of the things that we can show the world and promote our culture and we can promote our talent,” Oliveira told CMC.

He said that while it is the first time that his agency is collaborating with the ACP secretariat, Caribbean Fashion Showroom participated this year in the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA), the region’s premier cultural festival.

Oliveira told CMC that Caribbean Export has also been with the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat and the CARIFORUM directorate promoting the Caribbean.

“This is the first time we’ve come to Africa but it certainly not be the last,” he said, adding that the reception was “extraordinary”.

Hadiza Amadou, the 34-year-old Nigerien designer whose pieces graced the runway at the show, told CMC the event was a great adventure for her.

“It was the first time that I had a show with somebody who is not from my country and it was so great for me because I learned so many things from Rodney and his team,” she said, speaking of Rodney Powers of Caribbean Fashion Showroom, who is also a fashion consultant to Caribbean Export and co-ordinated Saturday’s show.

Amadou said she presented traditional designs from seven regions in Niger, but was “just wowed” by the Caribbean designs.

“I saw that they were more advanced than us, but I just told myself it’s not the same tradition that we have. Everybody liked it and it was very, very beautiful — from the jewellery to the bags, to the accessories, to the shoes and the clothes, everybody was so great and so beautiful,” she told CMC.

It was quite obvious from the murmurs at Saturday’s show that some of the Caribbean designs were too revealing for some members of the audience.

“There were many reactions to the clothes that are not — they call it extravagant,” Amadou told CMC, noting religious and other traditions in Niger that frown on women wearing revealing clothes.

She said that the Caribbean designs could have a future in Niger, as things are changing.

“It’s changing positively because five years ago we couldn’t have the show that we had last night with the Caribbean, but today we did it and everybody saw the photos and they said it’s beautiful. So I think are going to change and it (Caribbean designs) has a future here.”

Amadou has been a designer for 10 years and since then has been having an annual show on March 8 — International Women’s Day — attracting some 3,000 patrons each year.

“So I have many customers from outside of African, inside Africa, Europe, USA. So I can tell that people like what I do and people encourage me a lot.”

The show was intended to showcase talent with a view to creating economic opportunities for the designers, a point that Oliveira emphasised.

“I hope that this brings sales, because, at the end of the day, the artist and their designers are to make a living,” Oliveira said, adding that his agency participated in the two-day meeting of technical experts that formed part of the four-day conference here, and made the point that people working in culture have to make a decent living.

“And a decent living, they are going to obtain it through selling their talent and through accessing markets. The idea is that this fashion showcase will allow Caribbean talent to be exposed to the world and, hopefully, bring about greater wealth to our countries, bring about greater employment and sustainable development to the countries.

“We are trying to develop culture in a business-like way as to allow our cultural entrepreneurs to make a decent living, contribute to financing the states, through paying taxes, employing people and reaching sustainable development through a joint work, and it has been wonderful experience,” Oliveira told CMC.

“We are very small countries but we have a big heart and we have big talent and we should be able with that talent, with that competitiveness, together, to reach markets, niche markets,” he said, adding that his agency is focusing on niche markets that are high value-added.

“We are not looking at all for cheap products or big quantities We are looking for specific niche markets, specific niche markets that we actually reach with the quality of our people, with the quality of our handicraft and industry to penetrate those markets for the benefit of all of our people.”

Meanwhile, Rodney Powers said that as a result of Saturday’s event, Caribbean Fashion Showcase was invited to participate in Seychelles’ fashion week.

“Our collaboration with Africa, as the Caribbean, is very, very important. It is the motherland, as you are aware, so, for us, it is important that we collaborate,” Powers told CMC, adding that the showcase excited the patrons at Saturday’s event.

“They were applauding the quality of the world, the designs, the design concept,” Powers said, noting that he sees the Caribbean as having significant potential in the fashion market in Africa.

“I mean the Caribbean is bursting with colour, it is busting with glamour, style, aesthetic, also as Africa. For them to be able to see Caribbean people doing what they do, they are embracing colour, they are embracing style, the level of uniqueness, the consistency, for me, I think it was fantastic; the response was amazing.”

The models who displayed the fashion items all came from Niger.

“We trained the models, we did some workshops with them before we went straight into the show and for me it was good. They enjoyed it, they showed us a lot of love and appreciation and we are happy to collaborate with them,” Powers said.

Amadou, too, welcomed the Caribbean-Africa fashion collaboration.

“Africa need more collaboration from the rest of the world because we need to have the experiences of others; we need to see how they do the things; we need to learn from them because many things are done just by people [opting] to do things. But we need to have some mentors to show us the way,” she told CMC.

This article was originally published on iWitness News

Hundreds turned out for the 4th CARIFORUM-EU Business Forum held in Frankfurt from 26 to 28 September 2019 at the Union Halle.

The conference held on the 26th of September welcomed over 200 participants as a series of panels discussed trade between CARIFORUM and the EU under the theme ‘Building Strategic Partnerships in a Dynamic Global Economy’. In a panel led by Damie Sinanan, Manager – Competitiveness and Export Promotion at Caribbean Export, Sinanan unveiled the results of a study commissioned by the Agency which highlighted rum and sauces as the two most successful exports from the Caribbean since the signing of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in 2008.

“The CARIFORUM-EU EPA was signed in 2008 and we wanted to understand from companies the challenges and the successes they have experienced within the framework of the agreement” said Sinanan. Over a period of 6 months, the Agency interviewed and surveyed CARIFORUM based firms about their experiences exporting to Europe.

“The Dominican Republic followed by Trinidad and Tobago are the largest exporters of products and services to Europe. The Dominican Republic is the largest rum exporter in CARIFORUM with almost 7 times the value of rum exports of Jamaica. And exports of sauces and seasonings to the EU increased by 59% between 2014 and 2018” informed Sinanan.

The report presented also showed that EU imports of rum and related products from CARIFORUM increased by almost 31% (in value) from 2014 to 2018. Further, in 2018 The Dominican Republic exported almost 70 million euros in rum products to the EU, a 32% increase from 2014.

The encouraging news was well received by the audience of CARIFORUM firms and European business support organisations who are keen to form strategic relations with CARIFORUM to further trade. Three Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed between Caribbean Export, GIZ and BVMW as a symbol of the commitment to further trade and investment.

The following two-days of the event saw over 70 industry buyers and investors conduct some 150 business to business meetings with the sixty-three (63) carefully selected exhibitors from the Caribbean’s food, cosmetics and cultural industries who presented their products at the Union Halle. The fair recorded over 600 visitors who came to discover what the Caribbean has to offer.

“We were in Carifesta in Barbados and now we are here in Frankfurt. There are a lot more companies ready for the European market and so, yes it’s really, really, nice. We hope that there is opportunity to do something ” said Erica Ramsay (Manager) Spa Vivent Vertiebs GmbH.

Anthony Bradshaw, Officer in Charge at Caribbean Export, expressed his satisfaction with the event. “The CARIFORUM-EU Business Forum was designed as a platform with a view to strengthening business networks and promoting closer trade and investment relations between the Caribbean and, in this case, Europe. We are very pleased with the response to the fair, just as we have been in the past.”

“It’s been really great. I’ve met a lot of people who have been interested in our products and I will go to the Netherlands to have follow-up meetings as a result of what has happened here” Ruben Kranenburg – Sales and Operations Manager, Suriname Alcoholic Beverages.

The highlight was the consumers’ day on 28 September, which saw visitors enjoy Caribbean products, as well as Caribbean culture. In addition to rum tastings, cooking demonstrations and courses, more than eleven music performances were also put on by renowned artists.

Visitors were particularly impressed by the film Bazodee, featuring international soca artist Machel Montano, while Montano’s mother tantalised taste buds with a special vegan chocolate. Berlin’s most popular Caribbean chef – Troy Lopez from RosaCaleta – served up a surprise with a new German-Caribbean fusion dish, making Swabian Spätzle out of breadfruit flour, and combining it with chicken marinated in Superblend’s Chicken Marinade.