Building Economic Resiliance in the Caribbean

Caribbean Exporters’ Colloquium 2014

DAY 2 . NOVEMBER 12 . 2014

9:00 - 9:15

SUMMARY OF DAY 1 DISCUSSIONS Dr. Andre Henry Principal Consultant, Ideas to Business Limited

9:15 - 10:00

SESSION 5 – Innovate or Imitate? The Caribbean, a resource rich region, continues to lag behind other regions in terms of economic performance and export competitiveness. One suggested reason for this gap is the region’s lack of innovation when compared to our other developing, as well as developed trading partners. It is important to note that Caribbean countries are increasingly recognising the role of innovation as a catalyst for economic development; but simultaneously, the knowledge gap may be too large for some to overcome. Countries such as Korea, India, and Peru have demonstrated that a period of rapid imitation, to ‘catch up’ can result in a shift towards a culture of innovation. This period of imitation provided the private sector in these countries with a starting base from which to further develop competencies to innovate and invest in R&D and new product development. While the global harmonisation of patent laws does present this “imitation to innovation” approach with some challenges, government policies can play an important role in overcoming these. Is innovation or imitation the vehicle to regional economic development? What will be needed to facilitate innovation or imitation? How can the regional private sector stimulate innovation or effectively imitate cutting edge processes? How do we translate imitation or innovation into economic value for the region? MODERATOR: Dr. Jeannine Comma Chief Executive Officer, The Cave Hill School of Business/The University of the West Indies PRESENTER: Professor Gillian Marcelle Head, Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators CeSTII, South African Human Sciences Research Council PANELLISTS The Honourable Julian J Robinson Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Jamaica Dr. Maryse Robert Director, Department of Economic and Social Development, Organization of American States Ms. Lorna Green Chairman, GSW Animation-Reel Rock Studio Mr. Lance Hinds Chief Executive Officer, BrainStreet Group Mr. Kris Singh President and Chief Executive Officer, Service Research and Innovation Institute Session 6 – Access to Finance: Examining Non-traditional Platforms for Funding Access to finance has been identified as one of the major constraints facing the region’s firms, and a major stumbling block to their development and growth. This is particularly true for our Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs). An economy’s ability to support and develop firms as they go through the stages of development, from start-up to maturity, is heavily dependent on having the right eco-system in place. A key element of this eco-system is having access to the right mix of financing, appropriate for these different stages of development. What we have seen in the Caribbean is a lack of financing appropriate for the early stages of a firm’s development. The inability of the traditional financial systems to adequately respond to the needs of start-ups and MSMEs has hindered regional companies from becoming more viable and successful. As a result, there is now a brighter spotlight on new, non-traditional avenues of funding. Are the traditional methods of financing currently meeting the needs of the Region’s MSMEs? Is the issue one of DISCUSSIONS COFFEE BREAK

10:00 - 10:45

10:45 - 11:00

11:00 - 11:45

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