Trade Watch V8 No 3 July 2014

TRAINING & CERTIFICATION FOR CAPACITY BUILDING

SVG Coalition of Service Industries Hosts Services Awareness Week and Proposal Writing Workshop

The services industry is increasingly becoming a major topic of discussion on the regional economic landscape. The highly specialized and globally marketable nature of the sector has led it to be identified as potentially lucrative areas of investment for the region. As a result, it has become an area of priority for Caribbean Export and region-wide stakeholders. The Agency has invested resources in the creation of educational and capacity building opportunities for services providers, in close partnership with regional Coalitions of Service Industries (CSIs). The most recent of these collaborations was with the St. Vincent & the Grenadines Coalition of Service Industries during the Coalition’s Services Awareness Week in Kingstown from May 5-9, 2014. Caribbean Export sponsored and led a grant proposal writing workshop on May 8, which sought to equip the attendees with the knowledge and skills to construct a grant proposal which is likely to be successful in its bid. Caribbean Export’s Senior Grant Advisor and administrator of the Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS) programme, Kirk Brown led the workshop and provided invaluable insight to the participants on the elements of an effective proposal. DAGS in the Agency’s flagship grant funding programme, which provides reimbursable funding to hundreds of firms each year. The biannual Calls for Proposals attract applications from hundreds of firms across the region and those successful in their bids have been provided with funds to realize their developmental goals. The workshop, which saw service providers from a wide range of sub-sectors in the industry in attendance, was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and consisted of both instruction and break-out group sessions for practical application of knowledge. Mr Brown stressed the need for professionals to master the construction of a comprehensive proposal, because of the boost that the service industry as a whole can gain from the type of funding which programmes like DAGS can provide. At the end of the session, participants reported that they had gained a much more in-depth sense of the elements of a potentially successful funding proposal. They also expressed that it had been a beneficial experience, which would enrich both them and their respective companies. (TW)

Participants of the Proposal Writing Workshop listen during the presentation session.

Senior Grant Advisor, Caribbean Export during his presentation at the recently concluded grant proposal writing training in St. Vincent and the Grenadines

A section of the audience during the workshop

13 Tradewatch • The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol. 8 No. 3 July 2014