News

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in collaboration with the European Union officially launched their market intelligence portal, known as CE-INTELLIGENCE.

At the media launch held at the newly renovated Warrens Great House on Tuesday 10^th, July 2018, Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton outlined the importance of the CE-Intelligence portal for private sector firms looking to grow their businesses through exporting to new markets.  “Trade, business intelligence and market research are key for the successful entry into export markets” explained Coke-Hamilton.  The portal will enable firms to “develop their own customised reports to learn more about market entry requirements in any given country, important trade data, and key business contacts” informed Coke Hamilton.

Head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, Eastern Caribbean States, OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM Mr. Luis Maia highlighted that market intelligence is an indispensable commodity in today’s technology driven environment.  Further the portal will complement the EU’s Trade Helpdesk to enhance the business opportunities of those looking to penetrate the EU markets.  “For no longer can business persons operate successful businesses, without adequate knowledge of market requirements,” Maia explained to the attending private sector.

The CE-Intelligence portal was conceptualized to assist firms in being more strategic in their market entry plans as it provides an easily accessible platform for the region’s Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and Business Support Organisations (BSOs) to access accurate and high-quality data free of charge, which reduces the cost, time and effort required to make strategic business decisions.

The question as to why many businesses did not make that move to export was raised by the Hon. Minister Sandra Husbands in her keynote.  Charging that a cultural fear of the unknown was often a reason for businesses not venturing in to export, Minister Husbands congratulated the Agency for providing a much-needed tool that will make it easier for firms to move out of their comfort zones to explore export markets and benefit from the economies of scale that are synonymous with larger markets.  Moreover, Minister. Husbands called on entrepreneurs to make it second nature to include export as part of their business plans in view of the small market typical of small islands.

The CE-Intelligence portal provides information for its users in the areas of trade and business intelligence; access to finance with a listing of financial institutions and opportunities across the region; step by step export guides including a series of videos that explain the key elements of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA); foreign direct investment and a section on food safety providing information on the market entry requirements of key markets such as the EU, the USA, and Canada.

It is hoped that with the introduction of the CE-Intelligence portal the true potential of regional brands is unlocked with the use of high-quality information to aid in decision making.

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank has kicked off the inaugural activity of the Women Empowered through Export (WE-Xport) programme with a two-day workshop aimed at increasing participating firms’ and regional business support organisations’ (BSOs) access to finance.

Access to finance has been identified as one of the largest hindrances to businesses in their efforts to expand. Through an increased understanding of the necessary requirements to access funds from traditional banking institutions and funding agencies, it is hoped that more women-owned businesses will be able to access the finance needed to expand their businesses, and take advantage of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EU-EPA) to export their products and services to CARICOM and Europe.

“This disproportionate access to finance, which women face, limits their ability to participate in, and contribute to the economy, and hinders the improvement of their lives,” said Lisa Harding, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Coordinator, Technical Cooperation Division, CDB.
“Further, we believe this barrier and the consequent under-representation in entrepreneurship represents a missed economic opportunity for our Region,” she said. “It is against this backdrop that CDB is pleased to be partnering yet again, with Caribbean Export, in the WE-Xport programme, and particularly to fund participants in the “Access to Finance” component.”

At the opening of the workshop Pamela Coke Hamilton, Executive Director of Caribbean Export, outlined how issues such as sector concentration, lack of innovation and informal business structures, impede access to finance. Coke-Hamilton informed attendees that the WE-Xport programme aims to tackle many of these challenges; and the Access to Finance workshop would address the concerns of financial institutions regarding “weak financial literacy, and not keeping proper business and financial records”. Further, following the workshop, local Business Support Organisations in all 15 CARIFORUM countries will receive six months of technical assistance to enable them to better equip firms in their respective countries in preparing to access finance.

Coke-Hamilton closed by stressing “to the financial institutions, you also have a vital role to play in ensuring that when these companies make the necessary adjustments on their end to meet the requirements, that they are facilitated in their respective countries”.

The European Union has done a considerable amount of work in support of private sector development over several decades. Their continued commitment to achieving the overall objective of increasing the growth and prosperity of MSMEs and by extension decent job creation and wealth formation in the region was highlighted by Camille Wildman, Project Officer-Private Sector Specialist at the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM in her remarks. Wildman commended the CDB, Caribbean Export and UN Women on the organization of the workshop to improve the ability of the attending BSOs and women-owned businesses to meet the requirements of the formal banking sector and improve their overall ‘financial intelligence’.

Caribbean Export launched the WE-Xport programme in March, 2018 and selected 20 women-owned businesses from across CARIFORUM to participate in a range of activities and intiatives to build their capacity and support the growth and development of their businesses. Following the Access to Finance workshop, three companies from the WE-Xport programme will be showcasing their businesses at European Development Days (EDD) in Brussels, Europe. Following this event, participants will benefit from a three-month intensive business coaching programme.

In addition to workshops, activities under the WE-Xport programme include technical assistance grants, a podcast series to address issues affecting women in business and a women’s business forum.

Caribbean Export will showcase at Europe’s leading forum on international cooperation and development, European Development Days (EDD) bringing greater publicity to their women focused programme Women Empowered through Export (WE-Xport).

WE-Xport was launched in March of this year with the aim of supporting women-owned businesses to grow through assisting in their development to either start exporting or increase their exports. Nineteen businesses have been selected to participate in the programme and are expected to focus on exporting their products and services primarily to the European Union, utilising the benefits of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement.

The participation of Caribbean Export together with two participants of WE-Xport; EcoFarms from Jamaica and Sugar Town Organics from St. Kitts and Nevis will bring focus to the Agency’s work with the European Union and specifically the Agency’s focus on female entrepreneurs under the 11th EDF Regional Private Sector Development Programme.

The theme of EDD 2018 is ‘Women and Girls at the Forefront of Sustainable Development: protect, empower, invest’ and is expected to attract over 6,000 participants from 140 countries, representing 1200 organisations from the development comunity. It is anticipated that the inclusion of WE-Xport participants will raise the visibility of Caribbean women in business and provide an opportunity for greater market penetration within Europe.

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in cooperation with the European Union commenced a 3-day workshop to train Country Advisors from OECS countries on the Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS) at the Trade Winds Hotel, St. John’s, Antigua yesterday, April 4, 2018.

The Agency announced last month that grant funds would be provided to CARIFORUM businesses via the DAGS and they would be accepting proposals from businesses from April 23, 2018.  A key component to maximise the utilization of the grant funds allocated under the 11^th EDF Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP) is through ensuring companies understand the application process and the procedures.  Country Advisors are being trained across the region to provide assistance to companies during the application and reimbursement stages of the programme.

DAGS is a reimbursement grant funding facility specifically designed to provide financial assistance to legally registered firms and individuals with the potential to export their products and services.  Under the new DAGS programme grants from a minimum of €10,000 and to a maximum of €50,000 are available to CARIFORUM firms.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Min. Asot Michael congratulated the Agency for the timely and crucial programme to support the region’s private sector encouraging firms to participate in the programme.

Direct assistance grants have typically been used by companies to modernize equipment, upgrade facilities to international food and quality standards, enhance products and packaging, implement alternative energy systems, train staff, develop collateral materials, market and promote products and services for export. The DAGS provides a platform that supports Caribbean businesses to become more innovative and compete internationally.

“Access to finance is a critical pillar to enable companies to expand, create new jobs for our economies and generate foreign exchange” highlighted Christopher McNair, Manager – Competitiveness and Export Promotion at Caribbean Export.

The Agency has now trained thirty-eight (38) Country Advisors across the region and details can be found on the Agency’s website.

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in cooperation with the European Union today announced they are gearing up to provide grant funds to the CARIFORUM private sector via the DIRECT ASSISTANCE GRANT SCHEME (DAGS).

“The DAGS is one of the Agency’s most direct ways of providing support to the CARIFORUM private sector.  This reimbursement grant funding facility is designed to provide financial assistance to companies that are exporting or have the potential to export.  Under the revised DAGS programme, the ceiling for grants has increased to 50,000 Euros, with a minimum grant amount of 10,000 Euros” informed Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director, Caribbean Export.

Over the next few months Caribbean Export will be sensitising businesses and Business Support Organisations (BSOs) across the region on the process to apply under the Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS). This is to build the awareness of the Program ahead of the open call for proposals on April 23^rd, 2018. Additionally, the Agency will be training representatives from in each of the CARIFORUM countries to become DAGS experts. Named Country Advisors, they will provide ongoing assistance to businesses during the application and reimbursement stages of the Program.

Luis Maia, First Counsellor, Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM during his remarks stressed the vital role of small businesses in the creation of employment or for the reductions of unemployment and thus is the intention of the European Union to enhance the operation of small businesses in the Caribbean.   Small businesses provide “opportunities for those seeking to empower themselves to be innovative in developing businesses in new niche areas that can likewise employ others and also contribute to the economy. It is these types of enterprises that the Direct Assistance Grant Scheme will seek to foster and grow so that they can be positioned to penetrate export markets in the wider Caribbean as well as internationally, particularly utilising the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement” said Mr. Maia.

The European Union remains the world’s largest donor organisation and their cooperation with Caribbean Export to implement the 11^th EDF Regional Private Sector Development Programme valued at EUR 24 Million is a key regional initiative ultimately to support the increase employment creation, inclusiveness, particularly for youth, women and indigenous groups, and overall poverty reduction in CARIFORUM states.

“Given the need for urgent foreign exchange inflows to each of our regional economies, it is my view that DAGS can be leveraged, as an innovated investment interruption of our fragile economies through the mapping of creative funding options like this with an equally commensurate enterprising business support regime” expressed the Hon. Donville Inniss, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development.  Minister Inniss went on to say, “I am therefore of the strong view that going forward the focus of access to capital and market interventions must primarily be on local enterprise competitiveness among those MSMEs that fall within identified special priority sectors of the region.”

DAGS is reimbursement grant funding facility specifically designed to provide financial assistance to legally registered firms and individuals with the potential to export their products and services.

Direct assistance grants have typically been used by companies to modernize equipment, upgrade facilities to international food and quality standards, enhance products and packaging, implement alternative energy systems, train staff, develop collateral materials, market and promote products and services for export. The DAGS provides a platform that supports Caribbean businesses to become more innovative and compete internationally.

Caribbean Export is now taking applications from Caribbean women-owned businesses to participate in their newest programme: Women Empowered through Export or WE-Xport.

At the Hilton Barbados Resort, Caribbean Export in cooperation with the European Union announced the commencement of the WE-Xport programme which aims to support Caribbean women in business to grow their businesses through assisting in their development to either start exporting or increase their exports, namely to the European Union, utilising the benefits of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement.

EU Ambassador, Daniela Tramacere said: “The European Union is therefore pleased to provide financial support to Caribbean Export’s efforts to assist the growth and development of female-owned firms in the Caribbean to increase their competitiveness in the local, regional and international markets”.

Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director at Caribbean Export encouraged the regions female entrepreneurs to take full advantage of the WE-Xport programme and the opportunity to grow their businesses, connect with others and make their mark in our region, “we know you have the potential to do great things with your companies and with the right mix of support we aim to provide”.

WE-Xport is said to address women-owned businesses access to finance through the provision of workshops and technical assistance in partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).  “We recognise that access to finance is an obstacle too many women owned MSME in our Region face and therefore ensuring access to finance and business advisory services is essential to unlock the economic potential of the region” said Monica La Bennett, Vice President of Operations (CDB).  The programme will have an intensive business coaching programme to build the participants capacity and also increase their access to export markets and networks.

Further, an MOU was signed between Caribbean Export and UN Women as their commitment to work together in raising awareness around many of the challenges women face in conducting business and to advocate on their behalf to address these constraints and drive greater change and inclusion in our regional economies. Representative from UN Women, Alison McLean shared that the economic empowerment of woman is one of the mail of objectives of UN Women and they have developed the “women empowerment principles which offer practical guidance to the private sector on how to empower women in the work place, market place and communities”.

Senator, the Hon. Maxine McClean highlighted that many women operated “lifestyle businesses” often as a means to supplement income and was therefore pleased that the WE-Xport programme provides an opportunity to empower female entrepreneurs to move outside of their limitations.

The WE-Xport programme is open to businesses from CARIFORUM States that are at least 51% owned by a woman or women and has been in operation for at least two years.  Full details of the eligibility criteria can be found on the Agency’s website.

A new mobile application called Findrpro has received $5,000 USD investment via the LINK-Caribbean programme’s 5-5-5 pitch competition.

In the recently held Bahamas edition of the competition, sister co-founders Yamel Marshall, and Janay Pyfrom-Symonette presented their new mobile app that promises to provide a digital on-demand platform to connect consumers with a reliable network of service providers in the Bahamas and provide them with instant estimates and prices ranges for desired services.

The sisters found that they were struggling to contract service providers to get things done such as household repairs, electricians and plumbers. After a few years of developing the idea, Pyfrom-Symonette, who has a strong background in web application development and technology systems for business start-ups, applied to the LINK-Caribbean 5-5-5 pitch competition to advance the business further.

“It’s a data-intensive initiative, so we do require a research assistant that will provide support to our strategic partners and gather market intelligence needed to code dynamically into the web and mobile applications. We will be using the investment to support staff salaries to assist with this,” Pyfrom-Symonette said.

Five judges comprising local high-net-worth individuals and members of the entrepreneurship ecosystem judged the five companies who pitched. The judges were Raymond Jones, Donald Demeritte, Keva Cartwright, Sean Brennen, and Christopher McNair. They felt that the proposition presented by Findrpro was not only great for the market but also has the potential scalability.

“We received 27 applications to pitch from The Bahamas alone, which is a great indication of the entrepreneurship ecosystem apparent in this market,” said McNair, manager of competitiveness and export promotion at Caribbean Export. To date, a total of 97 applications have been received across those markets that will be hosting pitch competitions.  The final two pitch competitions to be held in Grenada and Saint Lucia are open to all businesses in the OECS and have been rescheduled to take place in April 2018, allowing more time for entrepreneurs to submit pitch decks and apply before March 16, 2018.

Caribbean Export and the World Bank Group under the Entrepreneurship Program for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC) initiated the pitch competition to raise greater awareness around the LINK-Caribbean programme and to support the development of a vibrant angel investment ecosystem within the region.

The World Bank Group, together with the Caribbean Export Development Agency, launched LINK-Caribbean, funded by the government of Canada under the auspices of EPIC. The investment facilitation program aims to enable early-stage Caribbean entrepreneurs to raise capital from private investors, particularly business angel investors.

A new online tool developed by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) with funding from the European Union has been launched.  The SME Diagnostic Tool was developed to assist CARIFORUM SMEs increase their export competitiveness.  exporTT have adopted the tool which will be utilised as a central aspect of their Export Competitiveness Project launched.

“I am delighted that exporTT is the first Business Support Organisation (BSO) in the Caribbean to adopt the SMEs Diagnostic Tool Assessment project as the foundation for building export competitiveness. The SMEs Diagnostic Tool Assessment is in essence a response to the global economy which demands that successful industries are comprised of competitive firms producing modern and innovative products and services” commented Norris Herbert, Trinidad and Tobago’s Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade.

The SME Diagnostic tool provides a standardised, expert-based methodology for accurately assessing SMEs and identifies the areas where development is required in the areas of management, production, access to finance and marketing.

“As we live and work in an information age, how many BSOs and TPOs can scientifically speak about the needs of their members with the relevant data to back up and show where their deficiencies lie? This is why the SME diagnostic tool which will be pioneered with exporTT is so valuable and essential for TPOs and BSOs to incorporate into their operations.” Shared Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director at Caribbean Export.

Caribbean Export worked closely with the European Union to develop the Regional Private Sector Development Programme and one of the key ways to support regional business to increase their exports is through the provision of trade and business intelligence.

“The EU is pleased to work with and support valued partners such as exporTT and the Caribbean Export Development Agency which focuses on private sector development,” said Aad Biesebroek, Ambassador of the EU Delegation to Trinidad and Tobago.  “While Governments are essential for creating the conditions for businesses to prosper, we all agree that it is ultimately the private companies, the core of which are the SMEs that create jobs and growth.”

Caribbean Export collaborated with Trinidad and Tobago’s exporTT to incorporate the SME Diagnostic tool within their Export Competitiveness Project as it will become the first step in prescribing interventions to improve a firm’s export competitiveness.

As the SME Diagnostic tool is rolled out to BSOs across the region it is anticipated that more firms will become better equipped to utilise the opportunities under the EPA increasing exports and competing globally.

Given the existing contribution of the outsourcing sector to job creation in the Caribbean region, coupled with its potential for expansion, calls are being made for greater levels of priority to be given to the outsourcing sector.

Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency Pamela Coke-Hamilton said more needs to be done by regional governments in seeking to position the Caribbean for the trending opportunities in the business outsourcing industry.

Ms. Coke-Hamilton made the plea as she addressed the opening session of the inaugural staging of the Outsource to the Caribbean Conference (OCC) sponsored by itelbpo, under the theme “Leveraging the Nearshore Caribbean for Outsourcing Services”, on December 6, 2017. The conference was held at the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where representatives from over 26 countries gathered to discuss how best to attract more business from international companies to the Caribbean in areas such as call centre operations, website and animation design and legal and accounting services.

Pointing to the outsourcing sector’s existing contribution to job creation in the region and its potential for expansion, Ms. Coke-Hamilton highlighted that an average of 5,000 workers were being added to the BPO sector annually. “In 2010, the sector provided employment for 47,000 workers and by 2015, this number had increased to 74,000… BPO and other professional services generated over US$2 billion in revenue in 2014. Calculations show that companies in the region generate close to US$25 million in revenue for every 1,000 agents”, said Ms. Coke Hamilton.

According to the Caribbean Export Development Agency’s Executive Director, outsourcing investors are working overtime to expand their services in the Caribbean, despite the region being late comers to the business of outsourcing. “The Caribbean is a late comer to this industry but besides our educated, multi-lingual, customer focused talent pool – we have several other qualities needed to make this sector a resounding success story for the region,” contended Ms Coke-Hamilton.

Drawing reference to an outsourcing sector investor perception survey recently conducted by her organization, Ms. Coke-Hamilton pointed out that investors perceived the Caribbean as a strategic or ideal location for outsourcing, “as we provide time zone proximity and low operating costs to investors, as a nearshore destination, we are within a similar time zone as New York, with daily flights from key markets…from Miami, we are 45 minutes to our nearest destination and up to 3 hours to our furthest”, she told the investors.

The survey also highlighted that 45% of investors indicated that their future business plans entails expanding within the Caribbean in the next 12-24 months. “This is amazing news for the region and it means that those outsourcing firms who are here are experiencing success and want more. In making their investment decisions our respondents have noted that this forms part of a regional strategy. This is a significant motivation for us at Caribbean Export to support the promotion of the Caribbean for investments given that investors are looking regionally. They are not thinking of setting up only in one territory but several’, said Ms Coke-Hamilton.

Another interesting find of the survey is that 100% of investors have indicated that they will be employing additional talent in the next 12-24 months, and they will be looking to the Caribbean for this labour, given the human capital assets of communication skills, ability to learn quickly and the professional nature of the Caribbean’s talent pool.

According to Ms. Coke-Hamilton the survey also highlighted developmental issues for the Caribbean including the need to be more creative in its incentive packaging, additional training for its people and the need to provide more data or market research on the sector.

Also speaking at the opening session was Jamaica’s Finance Minister Audley Shaw who indicated that some 26,000 persons are currently employed in the industry across the island with some 60 companies of varying sizes operating from its shores. He stated that one aspect of his government’s response to the requirements of the BPO industry is to ensure that its people are trained and equipped with the necessary skill sets to meet the demands of investors. “There is now the drive to diversify the local industry and move Jamaica up the value chain by delving deeper into new areas such as Shared Services, Legal Process Outsourcing, Computer Aided Design and Medical Process Outsourcing. These areas will present new challenges including the language barrier. We must equip our workers and position ourselves to leverage all the investment we can”, said Minister Shaw.

He further added that the geographical spread of investors within the BPO industry is an area the government has taken note of. He pointed out that the Factories Corporation of Jamaica has been tasked with providing real estate solutions for a variety of industries, including the BPO sector. He said some 365,000 square feet of the Morant Bay Urban Centre and 750,000 square feet of the Naggo Head Technology Park will see spaces developed for the BPO sector.

Other notable speakers at this first ever Outsourcing conference in the Caribbean was Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, The Honourable Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson. She implored upon investors that if customer retention was their goal, then the Caribbean is the place to do business. “In the Outsourcing Sector retaining talent is often a challenge, in the Caribbean, BPO’s service providers can boost attrition rates as low as 3% in Suriname and 5% in Haiti, which further supports the Caribbean’s case compare to other major outsourcing markets like India at 40% or Mexico at 25%.