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• Soul Fusion
Soul Fusion is a musical showcase of
Caribbean culture with artists from the
diverse nature of musical genres fromacross
the Caribbean, namely Reggae, Soca, Creole
Music (Zouk, Kompa), Caribbean Jazz, Folk
and Afro-Haitian.
• Caribbean Exporter of the Year
Awards (CEYA)
The Caribbean Exporter of the Year
Awards were devised to create an export
culture across the region by encouraging
CARIFORUMfirms to begin exporting or to
expand their exports through a programme
that acknowledges and rewards exporters.
There are six awards available: Emerging
Exporter of the Year; Young Exporter of the
Year; Female Exporter of the Year; Green
Exporter of the Year; Caribbean Exporter of
the Year and a Special Award for Excellence
in Services Exports.
ACCESS TO FINANCE
One of the most direct ways in which Caribbean
Export impacts SMEs is through its funding
programmes. The Agency offers both traditional
grant programmes and alternative mechanisms
for finance, such as Angel Investing:
• The Direct Assistant Grant
Scheme(DAGS)
The DAGS is a reimbursement grant
funding facility specifically designed to
provide financial assistance to legally
registered firms/individuals/ BSOs with the
potential to export their goods and services.
• Special Call for Proposals
The Agency also provides special calls for
proposals, allowing applicants to submit
proposals for funding outside of the regular
DAGS facility e.g. Special Call for Proposals-
Food Safety.
• Regional Angel Investor Network
(RAIN)/Caribbean Investment
Facilitation Programme (CIFP)
The RAIN provides a network of angel
investors within the Caribbean that are
looking to provide private investment in
to investment ready startup, early and
growth stage SMEs. The CIFP provides a
facility to enable promising entrepreneurs
to raise capital from angels and other
early-stage investors, and to support the
development of angel investing in the
Caribbean, via the provision of investment
facilitation grants to enterprises showing
investment promise.
INVESTMENT PROMOTION
• Caribbean Association of Investment
Promotion Agencies (CAIPA)
As the Secretariat for CAIPA, Caribbean
Export is deeply involved in the support
and strengthening of regional investment
promotion agencies.
• Regional Investor of the Year Awards
The Agency stages the Regional Investor of
the Year Awards, in collaboration with
CAIPA which invites nominations for
foreign and local investors who have
had a significant impact on regional
industries. The awards also seek to
recognise investors in strategic areas
of importance to the region, e.g. green
energy, research and development,
projects that involve a high degree of
innovation and creativity and those that
are championed by women.
BUSINESS ADVOCACY
Caribbean Export seeks to create an enabling
business environment for regional SMEs on
a macro level by establishing relationships
between territories through:
• Bi-national Programmes
• Trade agreements
• Memorandums of Understanding
(MOUs)
Within the context of business advocacy,
the Agency convenes a number of public/
private sector engagement to facilitate the
exchange of ideas, experiences and explore
opportunities for regional growth and
development. Examples of these include:
the Caribbean Exporter’s Colloquium,
the Private Sector Advisory Group, the
Caribbean Conference on the International
Financial Services Sector and the Regional
Innovation Advisory Group.
Exporters’ Tool Box
www.carib-export.com125