Trade Watch V8 No 3 July 2014

OPPORTUNITIES

Expression of Interest Notice: Participation in the VIII Americas Competitiveness Forum

The VIII Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF) and Annual Meeting of the Inter-American Competitiveness Network (RIAC) will be held in Trinidad and Tobago during the period October 8th – 10th, 2014, which is the first time the ACF is being held in an English speaking country.

The theme of this year’s ACF is “The Human Imagination at Work: Driving Competitiveness, Powering Innovation”

The ACF Forum and Annual Meeting will consist of Panel Discussions and Keynote Presentations on the following sub-themes

• Energy Competitiveness and Innovation • Financing Business, Investment and Growth • Creativity, Innovation, Research and Application • Breakthrough Innovations and the New generation • Services Industry as a Driver of Innovation • Innovation in Education

Caribbean Export will be supporting the participation of CARIFORUM SMEs, entrepreneurs, and aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative products and/or services as exhibitors at the Innovation Village, where they will get an opportunity to showcase their respective products and/or services to a diverse audience consisting of potential customers, business partners, and investors. Interested parties must create a video pitch no longer than three (3) minutes explaining why they should be selected to be part of the contingent of firms to exhibit at the Innovation Village of the ACF 2014. Firms must answer the following questions in their video pitch: • What is the value proposition of your product or service (what problem does it seek to solve)? (20 to 30 seconds) • What makes your product/service innovative and differentiates it from its competitors? (15 to 20 seconds) • Who are your primary and secondary target audiences and what’s your distribution strategy to reach them? (30 to 40 seconds) • What are the ways you generate or are seeking to generate revenue (retail, wholesale, e-commerce, etc.)? (25 to 30 seconds) • Are you seeking to export (if not already exporting) and if yes, which markets are you currently exporting to and other markets are you interested in? (20 to 30 seconds) • What area(s) would you like the greatest support to continue the growth and development of your business model? • What is your name/company’s name? (5 to 7 seconds) • What is your product/service and which industry does it fall under? (10 to 15 seconds)

Please note that the times included above are merely to be used as a guide.

For additional information on the video sumbmission guidelines and the screening and selection process please visit our website www.carib-export.com. The Expression of interest form can also be downloaded here.

Firms interested in participating in the VIII Americas Competitiveness Forum (ACF) as an exhibitor, are asked to make their electronic submissions to:

Mr. Damien Sorhaindo at dsorhaindo@carib-export.com and copied to Ms. Ginelle Green at ginelle.greene@giz.de

Submissions must be made no later than 4:30pm EST on Thursday, July 31, 2014.

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