By: Staff Writer
August 1, 2023
The Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) in its 2022 Annual Report said that they have given over $2.1m in grant funding to 138 small businesses last year.
CEDA also said that they have an implementation rate of 89 percent of the total budget of the European Union’s 11th EDF Regional Private Sector Development Programme.
Deodat Maharaj, said in the executive summary: “Recognizing the importance of partnerships in supporting private sector development, Caribbean Export has worked diligently to foster new partnerships with organisations that share our vision for the region. While the Agency continues to benefit from strong relationships with partners such as the European Union, the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the International Trade Centre (ITC), we have also forged new partnerships. During 2022, we welcomed three new partners on our mission towards building a GREENer, SMARTer, resilient Caribbean: Expertise France, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Tecnalia from Spain whilst deepening our partnership with CDB.”
He also said: “The Agency has also remained committed to its export promotion strategies delivering several trade and export promotion programmes benefitting over 50 CARIFORUM firms from the manufacturing, agro-processing, rums & spirits and services sectors. Through this focused work, firms were able to showcase and demonstrate their products and services to some of the biggest wholesalers, distributors and content creators in the world including Sainsbury, Marks and Spencer, Netflix and Sony Music Entertainment. These activities have acted as a bridge to international markets, allowing firms to create and foster relationships with global partners. They have also brought high visibility to our Region’s goods and services and assisting them in securing distribution deals and production contracts.”
The report also said that CEDA also recognized that investment is “critical” to the development of the region, taking into consideration the $3.8 bn of foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and can provide much-needed capital, technology, and expertise to support our countries develop their infrastructure, industries, and human capital.
As a result, CEDA placed emphasis on four key areas for FDI in 2022: Renewable Energy; Agriculture Technology; Business Outsourcing; and Hotel and Resort Development.
The report also said: “Caribbean Export has been supporting the transition of private sector firms from national to regional and ultimately international businesses with the export of goods and services as a strategic mode to achieve this. Export can lead to increased economic growth and development across the Caribbean helping to create jobs, increase productivity, and improve the balance of trade. The International Trade Centre’s Trade Map reports that in 2021 the CARIFORUM region’s exports grew by 33.82 percent since 2020 with a value of $30.7bn USD with the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, and the Netherlands being among the top trading partners. This is a significant improvement after the Covid-19 pandemic which had a crippling effect on regional MSMEs, suppressing cashflows as a result of loss of demand and falling revenue, disconnecting firms from global value chains and ultimately limiting their ability to provide jobs.