Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016

Despite our rich heritage and the demand for

Caribbean culture, arts and crafts, this sector only

registered US$482 million in exports in 2013.

The regional exports of creative goods grew an

average of 5%between 2009 and 2013 (marginally

higher than the global average 4%) with music,

specifically performing rights as the main service

exported. However, more than 90% of royalties

for Caribbean artistes remain uncollected because

the region does not have the infrastructure and

monitoring mechanisms in place to enforce

payment, resulting in a loss of export revenue.

Wood furniture has become the largest low-tech

sector globally, surpassing other sectors such as

garments and clothing, andwas estimated to have

reached a global market size of US$117 billion

in 2012. There is demand in the EU, Latin and

North American markets and intra-regionally

for wooden furniture. Between 2001 and 2008,

the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM’s)

furniture export sales grewby 4% annually, albeit

much slower than the global rate.

Globally, the US is, by far, the single largest

furniture importing country and in 2011, it

imported furniture valued at US$12.4 billion.

This is followed by the EU, in particular

Germany (US$5.9 billion), France (US$4.5

billion) and the United Kingdom (UK) (US$3.5

billion) within that market. These three

European countries combined present a market

opportunity of more than US$11 billion for the

wood furniture sector.

Tourism

In the tourism sector, CARIFORUM exports

grew by 2.3% in 2013 with 25 million stay over

visitors and US$28 billion in total receipts.

This represents an increase of 5% for stay over

visitors over 2012. Overall, when compared to

other regions globally, the performance in the

Caribbean is below the global average of 5%. In

2013, Africa and Europe both posted growth of

5%, while the Americas experienced 3% growth.

While North America and Europe remain key

sourcemarkets for tourists, tourismarrivals from

SouthAmerica grewby 13% in 2013 to 1.5million

visitors, representing the market with the largest

growth. Member countries should use this data to

adjust their strategies to attract more visitors from

thesemarkets and hence build amore sustainable

and diverse tourism product.

In order to keep this sector alive, the region cannot

continue to sell tourism the way it did 30 years

ago. There is a need to adapt and seek out non-

traditional markets such as China for visitors and

to develop niche sub-sectors within our tourism

industry. This is especially important when we

recognise that services exports continue to be the

largest contributor to foreign exchange earnings

and economic growth in the region.

Diversification

In order to strengthen our economies and become

more resilient, wemust not simply look to improve

ourperformanceinthesekeysectorsoutlinedabove,

but wemust also diversify into other sectors which

hold promise for growth.

Renewable energy is a great example of a potential

growth sector for the region. The World Bank,

in its report on building competitive green

industries, has identified opportunities for

developing countries, including SMEs in

onshore wind, solar photovoltaic, and small

hydro-electricity generation. Electric vehicles

and bikes also present opportunities for SMEs.

According to the report, global investments in

clean technologies including renewable energy

Pulse OF THE CARIBBEAN