BARBADOS – The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), as part of its mandate to promote export led growth for the Caribbean region and to facilitate increased exports to regional and international markets, will be launching for the first time a Caribbean Export Week.
As part of this week of activities, Caribbean Export will be hosting a Colloquium on the status of our regional export platform on March 20-21, 2013 in Barbados.
Caribbean Export is developing a comprehensive strategy for improving the CARIFORUM Region’s export potential. This initiative is premised on the rationale that regional trade integration can serve as a dynamic catalyst to economic growth. At the same time, there is acknowledgement of the numerous challenges preventing Caribbean countries from capitalizing on the benefits of regional integration processes.
The Colloquium will be used to reignitiate the conversation on export led growth and re-examine the applicability and relevance of the recommendations emanating from the seminal Report to the Heads of Government in July 1992. It will also seek to continue the dialogue with stakeholders on the most effective mechanisms that the region can adopt to exponentially increase exports and achieve deeper market penetration in both traditional and non-traditional markets. More specifically, it will aim to identify and get consensus on the priority sectors that could be the focus of a viable regional export strategy.
Additionally, the objective is to determine the most effective platforms for export diversification, niche marketing and branding and achieving sustainable export success.
Discussions will be undertaken in the context of the challenges and opportunities of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and explore new instruments for enabling the regional private sector to take advantage of the Agreement.
