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invested in a new idea, introduced a
new device to the market, created an
invention or introduced new practice
methods that have been translated
into a goods or service creating value,
satisfying a specific consumer need and
has created significant socio-economic
impact. Lenstec Inc. from Barbados
captured the Foreign Investor of the
Year Award. The privately held medical
devicedevelopmentandmanufacturing
company, specialising in intraocular
lenses which invested in Barbados from
USA. The honour of Local Investor of
the Year was awarded to Du Boulay’s
Bottling Co. Ltd., a leading beverage
manufacturing establishment in Saint
Lucia and the OECS territories.
A Special Award was also given
to a young investor in innovation
whose investments are particularly
noteworthy. The recipient on this
occasion, and also the overall Regional
Investor of the Year, was Kikaboni
(Healthy Flow Agroindustrial SRL) a
healthy snack manufacturing company
from the Dominican Republic, which
became the first company in the
world to produce healthy snacks using
Moringa Oleifera as one of their main
ingredients. Today they have three
varieties of Pita Chips that use super
foods like Moringa, Quinoa and Chia
Seeds to boost the nutritional value
of their products. The 2015-2016 RIYA
received 26 applications from nine
CAIPA member countries: Antigua
and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica,
Dominican Republic, Guyana, Haiti,
Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad
and Tobago. These best practices of the award will be heralded as role models,
demonstration projects or success stories within the region, the promotion
of which may attract similar investment. Overall, the RIYA has recognized 10
regional investors. For the full list of CAIPA members please refer to Annex 1 of
this report.
INVESTMENT PROMOTION TRAINING
In September 2012, 29 investment promotion officials participated in a three-
day workshop on training in Investment Promotion strategy and Branding in
Suriname. This training examined the best practices in investment promotion
and benchmarking; investment promotion strategy, branding and positioning;
developing financial incentives; and developing investment packages and
packaging incentives. The training was delivered via interactive group sessions,
casestudies, andone-on-oneconsultations. Participantsalsousedtheopportunity
to discuss the findings of the Investment Climate Study, which was commissioned
by CAIPA and Caribbean Export.
In October 2012, training in Marketing in Investment Promotion in Guyana, and
Aftercare Investment Packaging in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were delivered
to Caribbean IPAs. Pretraining assessments were conducted for both sessions
to gauge the needs of participants, and the current knowledge they have in the
area. The training in Marketing in Investment sought to combine basic principles
with more advanced techniques for investment promotion marketing for the 34
IPA members present. The three-day programme covered the fundamentals of
investment promotion; trends in FDI; place marketing and techniques; image
building and branding; use of social media; best practice examples; the lead
generation process; investor profiling; and converting leads into projects. The
follow-up to this training was conducted in Aftercare Investment Packaging,
which saw participation from 28 investment promotional officials. The training
focused on the key elements in setting up an aftercare unit namely developing
objectives and identifying partners; assessing resources and organisational
options; designing an aftercare programme; and delivering services, monitoring
and evaluating the results. Caribbean Export and CAIPA also partnered to deliver
Investor Facilitation training to 34 IPA members in Jamaica in 2013. The three-day
workshop, which focused on attracting FDI through good investment facilitation,
was a capacity building exercise based on the based on the results of the Global
Investment Promotion Best Practices 2012 report which is a biennial publication
of the World Bank Group. The report revealed that in countries where the
investment climate can be categorised as unpredictable and non-transparent,
IPA support could make a significant difference to investors, by influencing their
decisions. It is against this background and in a bid to increase levels of FDIs to
ENHANCING COMPETITIVENESS
AND PROMOTING INNOVATION