News

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) has partnered with the Small Business Association (SBA) of Barbados to host a two-day workshop on leveraging the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Over 50 exporters from across the region gathered at the Radisson Aquatica Resort to hear from experts from the European Union, Caribbean Export and the SBA of Barbados on the tools available to support the growth of their export businesses whilst leveraging the EPA.

A central theme to the dialogue as highlighted by Senator Lynette Holder, CEO of the SBA of Barbados in her Opening Remarks was the importance of strategic partnerships.  Senator Holder called for businesses to work together to reap the benefits of the EPA.

The CARIFORUM-EU EPA was developed to facilitate integration and regional cooperation further the EPA supports enhanced sustainable growth, increased production and supply capacity. The Hon. Sandra Husbands, Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade with the Government of Barbados echoed Senator Holders sentiment, “We cannot do this alone. Not as individual companies, not as individual islands or countries but rather we must do this together”.  The overall objective of the EPA is the sustainable development of the ACP States and their integration into the world economy and the eradication of poverty.

Speaking about the workshop in general Minister Husbands charged that “This is a vital part of the strategy toward attaining export led economic growth and this is what is needed in Barbados at this time.”  The Minister went on to encourage the participating companies to take advantage of the workshop discover a mechanism that allows participants to work together in groups and in teams to leverage the benefits of the CARIFORUM-EU EPA.

The EPA is the most comprehensive agreement between the EU and the ACP and remains a flagship for the European Union making its successful implementation a priority informed Filipe de la Mota, Head of Regional Section at the EU Delegation to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.

“Increased attention has been and will continue to be placed on those areas required to assist CARIFORUM States and the regional private sector in maximising the benefits and mitigating the challenges presented by the integration efforts” he continued.  “One of the EPAs main objectives is to promote economic growth within the region with the aim to increase chances for Caribbean businesses to participate in global value chains and support the conditions for increasing investment in private sector initiatives, enhancing supply capacity, and competitiveness in CARIFORUM States.  We strongly believe that strengthening competitiveness and trade capacity will ensure stronger supply chains in succeeding in the global market and effectively contribute to sustainable development”.

Caribbean Export will host the next EPA workshop at the upcoming Trade and Investment Convention (TIC) scheduled for July 4-7, 2019 in Trinidad and Tobago.

Over the past 5 months young entrepreneurs have been battling it out to secure a place in the final of the Caribbean Entrepreneur Challenge (CEC), a component of the Trade Enhancement for the Eastern Caribbean (TEECA) project, hosted by the Martinique Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the CTM, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and supported by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), with funding by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG Programme.

CEC was an initiative which aimed to raise awareness amongst the younger Caribbean people on regional cooperation and to encourage entrepreneurial innovation. Students initially applied to the challenge online where they gave a presentation of their business idea in one of the following areas: fashion, agro transformation, ICT, environment or music.

The top 10 presentations were selected to attend workshops on marketing, management, creativity, innovation and pitching to help develop enhanced business plans. The five most realistic innovative projects were then invited to pitch their ideas to a Caribbean panel in the final, where they could win a prize of between €1,000 to €10,000.

Nineteen-year-old Sophie Klein from Saint Lucia grabbed the top prize at the CEC final held on Wednesday June 5, 2019 in Trois-Ilets, Martinique for her business plan to transform education through incorporating greater virtual reality and gaming. The top prize of €10,000 and technical guidance will be used to kickstart her business.

With her project titled “JOIE” and in keeping with the ethos of her school Sir Arthur Lewis Community College “The cure for poverty is not money but knowledge” she set out a business plan that unlocked the utilisation of virtual reality and gaming to enhance the learning experience.

Other finalist included Miah Scott from Grenada with a range naturally made skin moisturisers and hair products under the name Shea Miah’s Way; Kenna Questelles from St. Vincent and the Grenadines with her project Linkup an online directory of restaurants menus and events; Leona Melius also from Saint Lucia presented Lily’s Healthy Eats – an organic and local food delivery service for schools and workplaces; and Tehillah Bannis offered cosmetics products that are safe and of good quality for the skin from Dominica with her project Herbie Care.

“Caribbean Export is pleased to support a project which encourages young people to be innovative and develop solutions for their immediate communities. We are looking forward to seeing how these business ideas turn in to reality” expressed Gayle Gollop, Special Advisor – Trade and Legal Affairs, Caribbean Export.

Nineteen Caribbean female entrepreneurs have successfully completed the WE-Xport Programme, an initiative geared at helping them to start exporting or to increase exports of their products and services.

Organized by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in cooperation with the European Union, WE-Xport commenced in March 2018 and climaxed with a closing ceremony on Friday, June 7, 2019, at the Hilton Barbados Resort. 

“We believe that this WE-Xport programme has been a tremendous success,” Mr. Zamani Moodie, Market Intelligence Advisor at Caribbean Export said on behalf of Ms. Cecile Humphrey, Chairperson of the Board of the Directors.

“Caribbean Export understands the complexed challenges faced by regional firms, particularly those owned by women.” A study by the Women’s Entrepreneurial Venture Scope, funded by the Multilateral Investment Fund on doing business, ranks many Caribbean countries at the bottom of the list for female entrepreneurship. 

“Access to finance and women’s business skill capacity are identified amongst the reasons for this low ranking. Against this backdrop, the Caribbean Export Development Agency developed a special programme called WE-Xport to assist women entrepreneurs in the region,” he explained.

In addition, a study by infoDev, “Profiling Caribbean Women Entrepreneurs: Business Environment, Sectoral Constraints and Programming Lessons”, draws attention to the state of women-owned businesses in the Caribbean. The study shows that these businesses have little to no employees, are concentrated in low growth sectors and have difficulty accessing finance. Other challenges are their lack of self-confidence and women’s fear of failure in their businesses. Women also struggle with work life balance because many are primary caregivers.

Mr. Moodie further outlined that the objectives of WE-Xport were to build capacity amongst women-owned enterprises as well as to access alternative sources of funding.  It also aimed to provide capacity building tools to help the entrepreneurs improve their international competitiveness and increase penetration in new markets.

Additionally, the WE-Xport programme sought to advocate for the empowerment of female entrepreneurs by strengthening their network and by creating awareness amongst business support organizations, development partners and stakeholders.

Over the year participants benefited from technical assistance, finance workshops, online business training, a personal business coach and access to grant funding.

The entrepreneurs had the opportunity to showcase their products and services to regional and international buyers at a Buyers’ Programme organized by the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation and the Caribbean Export.  They also got the chance to sell and display goods at BMEX, Barbados’ largest manufacturing expo.

“We hope that you had a rewarding experience and had obtain tangible benefits that you will continue to use to enhance the competitiveness of your businesses. We wish tremendous success to you,” Mr. Moodie said.

He also thanked the European Union (EU), the Caribbean Development Bank, the German International Corporation and UN Women for partnering with Caribbean Export on the programme.

Ms. Celine Anselme, Programme Manager in the delegation of the EU to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean, the OECS and CARICOM/CARIFORUM, described WE-Xport as “innovative”.

Noting that the EU supported the important role that private sector played in generating employment and economic growth within the region, she said the EU had been working with Caribbean Export for approximately 20 years.

She added that since 2017 the EU had been running a US $30 million private sector development programme which is being implemented by Caribbean Export. It will end in 2021. 

“WE-Xport is one of the many successful activities being implemented. WE-Xport is not just any initiative, it is innovative. It is the first women only initiative designed within Caribbean Export to enhance the export capacities of women-owned enterprises.

“WE-Xport got off the ground for two critical reasons. The first was a need to address the fact that women-owned enterprises in the Caribbean are concentrated in saturated sectors thereby making them difficult to grow. Second, research has shown that in the Caribbean, women’s participation in self-employment is lower than their male counterparts, and when self-employed, women are more likely to operate at the micro level with sometimes no employees,” she explained.

Ms. Anselme said the EU regarded women’s empowerment as a matter of human rights, democracy and good governance and argued that it makes good economic sense.

“Women normally control the house provisions and the financial decisions for their families and by extension, women are a significant pool of consumers and clients.”

Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade in Barbados, Sandra Husbands told the WE-Xport entrepreneurs that they played an important role in transforming their countries’ economies.

“The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of your country needs you. While you may think your business is small, while you may think you are struggling… every single penny that you turn over in your business contributes to the GDP of your country. Therefore, what you do every day is not only important to you and your family, it is important to your country.”

Minister Husbands told participants it was critical to look beyond their country to achieve true growth and pointed out that the Barbadian government was encouraging the local business community to explore markets in Guyana, Suriname and Panama.

Taribba do Nacimento from St. Lucia, who owns the designer handmade bag company, Meme Bete, said the WE-Xport programme was very beneficial.

“St. Lucia has a population of 180,000 people, if I do not export my business cannot survive. I am not selling fish, I am not selling food. There are so only many handbags a local lady can and will buy.

“I am not selling a need, I am selling a want in an affordable luxury market with lots competition. The WE-Xport programme allowed me to finally set up my website. I was grateful to have a business coach who worked in fashion and understood the industry,” Ms. do Nacimento said. 

Mrs. Grace Foster-Reid, owner of EcoFarms in Jamaica, an enterprise which produces organic honey and a range of honey by-products, also praised the WE-Xport Programme.  Through the initiative, she secured a deal to supply honey to the international coffee franchise Starbucks.

She thanked her coach for helping her “to take the Starbucks order from 95 per cent to 100 per cent”. However, she said the highlight of her experience was forming a sisterhood with the other women.

“I thought I was coming for information about financing and mentorship, but the relations were fabulous. Immediately I felt like I was with sisters. Entrepreneurship is a lonely place. On Friday evening, everybody is worried about how to pay their workers. Right away I had a family, women with whom I could share and be vulnerable with.”

Observing they were the first group to participate in the initiative she appealed to Caribbean Export to continue the WE-Xport programme given the benefits derived.

“This should not be the last experience, there are many other women in the Caribbean who could benefit from this,” Mrs. Foster-Reid emphasized. 

Supporting regional trade is central to the work of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export).  Caribbean Export in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH or GIZ in short, supported the participation of four CARIFORUM companies to exhibit at the recently held Jamaica International Exhibition (JIE) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from May 30 to June 1, 2019.

“Participation in the JIE enabled us to gain meaningful feedback on our new product line and promote our existing teas with various key players in the Jamaican market. We were able to present our teas to hotel management, distributors and even the Mayor of Montego Bay which was encouraging as the feedback was fantastic” informed Sophia Stone, CEO at Caribbean Cure Ltd from Trinidad and Tobago.

Other exhibiting companies included Benedicta SA producers of the region’s only cider alcoholic beverage from the Dominican Republic, Gom Foods out of Suriname who produce a range of marinades and condiments; and from Saint Lucia the Winfresh Group also presented their range of sauces and condiments.

Speaking on his experience at the JIE Gustavo Cruz Jerez, Co-Founder and CEO at Benedicta SA highlighted that they “made good business contacts for Jamaica, Guyana, Costa Rica, Suriname, Grenada and Miami.” 

Inclusion of CARIFORUM firms at National Trade show such as JIE is an important intervention for the Agency.  In addition to JIE the Agency supported seventeen (17) of the WE-Xport firms to participate in BMEX in Barbados over the period June 7-10, 2019 together with regional buyers in the BIDC Buyer Program.  Caribbean Export in cooperation with the European Union will continue supporting national trade shows throughout the year such as the Guyana Trade and Investment Exhibition (GuyTie); Everything Vincy 2019 in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the upcoming Trade and Investment Convention (TIC) in Trinidad and Tobago.

Caribbean Export will itself be hosting a trade exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany on September 27^th as part of the 4^th CARIFORUM-EU Business Forum, a 3-day event to support increased trade between CARIFORUM and the EU.  Over 60 CARIFORUM companies will participate in the business forum many of whom have had tremendous success at the aforementioned national events.

“We are grateful to Caribbean Export and GIZ team for supporting us in this initiative and helping us progress one step further in international market penetration” expressed Stone.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), has the potential to be transformative for countries in the Caribbean and should be further explored and exploited.  This is the charge from the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) organisers of the 2^nd Outsource to the Caribbean Conference (OCC) 2019.

Hosting the event in collaboration with the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) and with the Curaçao Investment and Export Promotion Agency (CINEX) some 23 countries were represented by delegates looking to explore new sourcing opportunities and discover what the Caribbean has to offer in the BPO sector.

President of the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA), Tessa Jacques in her opening remarks of the conference, shared that “We’ve done the homework and the site selection companies and potential investors have indicated to us that they know the Caribbean but have challenges identifying our individual territories. This is not a bad thing. Our goal as CAIPA is to build on this perception of the Caribbean and identify for investors niche opportunities in each of our territories.”

Collaboration between the Caribbean countries was the main theme throughout the conference for the region to achieve long term success in the industry.  Jamaica is one country applauded by the Hon. Eugene Rhuggenaath, Prime Minister of Curaçao, for its growth in the sourcing sector as it has led the way in the regions BPO industry “Jamaica is a pure example of the success in the BPO industry, with over 36,000 employees from 60 players.  Jamaica’s BPO industry has grown on average 20% per year and is expected to continue growing 15-18% in 2019.  Congratulations Jamaica”.

Jacques highlighted that in 2010 the Caribbean’s BPO sector provided employment for 47,000 workers, and by 2015 this figure had grown to 74,000 and continues to grow.  With companies generating close to US$25million in revenue for every 1000 agents.  The opportunity for the Caribbean to capitalise upon technology enabled service delivery is apparent. Ahead of the conference Caribbean Export carried out a poll on the OCC website and found that 60% of all first-time visitors to the site had intentions to expand in the region within the next 12-24 months.  This is a strong signal of continued growth in the sector in the near to medium term.

“This impressive growth in the BPO sector will accelerate and become even bigger for Caribbean destinations” continued the Prime Minister as he underscored that the success of the Caribbean was deeply rooted in its heritage, diversity, versatility and creativity as “One Caribbean, one nearshore solution for our partners in the America’s, Europe and even Africa”.

At the event, two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between Caribbean Export, CAIPA, the Caribbean Association of Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO) and the ACCA Caribbean. This is an indication of their commitment to work together to continue supporting the growth and development of the Caribbean’s BPO sector.

Another significant undertaking at the event was the hosting of the first Caribbean BPO of the Year Awards. The event sought to celebrate the accomplishments of Caribbean BPO firms over the period 2017/2018, with a focus on jobs created, investment and innovation in service delivery. The applicants were scored by Anupam Govil of AVASANT, Margaret Rose of Site Selection Magazine and Kirk Laughlin of Nearshore Americas. The winners were announced at the celebratory reception at the Conference, where itelBPO of Jamaica and the Bahamas copped the coveted Caribbean BPO of the Year Award. itelBPO, also won the Caribbean BPO Employer of the Year Award. The winner of the other 2 categories, that is, Caribbean BPO Investor of the Year Award and Caribbean BPO Innovator of the Year Award was Qualfon of Guyana. Accepting the award was Luanna Persaud, Country Director.

The next edition of the Outsource to the Caribbean Conference is scheduled for 2021.

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) in cooperation with the European Union is accepting proposals from CARIFORUM firms for grants of up to €30,000 the equivalent of approximately $33,000 USD, under their 2^nd Call for Proposals for the DIRECT ASSISTANCE GRANT SCHEME (DAGS).   

In the 2018 1^st Call for Proposals over €2.1M was awarded to fifty-three (53) CARIFORUM firms that successfully applied for a grant.  Businesses from a range of sectors including agro-processing, manufacturing, tourism, services, wood products, renewable energy, film and tv production, information technology and alcoholic beverages were awarded grants.

“We were encouraged to see the diversity of proposals from companies looking for a grant” shared Damie Sinanan – Manager, Competitiveness and Export Promotion at Caribbean Export.  “This time we have reduced the maximum value of the grants available in an effort to provide more grants to firms and make it more accessible” he continued.

The DAGS is a reimbursement grant funding facility which requires firms to fund their projects upfront and be reimbursed at their completion.  The fund was specifically designed to provide much needed financial assistance to legally registered CARIFORUM firms and individuals that are exporting or have the potential to export their products and services. 

This latest Call for Proposals is open until June 11, 2019 and interested companies are asked to visit the Caribbean Export website at www.carib-export.com for further information.