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CARIFORUM PARTICIPATING IN DESIGN CARIBBEAN BY COUNTRY
Barbados
Belize
Jamaica
St. Lucia
St. Kitts & Nevis
Suriname
Trinidad & Tobago
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Grenada
Haiti
The Bahamas
Guyana
ENHANCING COMPETITIVENESS
AND PROMOTING INNOVATION
During an evaluation of the initiative, participants credited Caribbean Export
with providing their company with opportunities for networking and export that
would have been difficult to secure on their own. Beneficiaries further shared
that they participated in the mission to gain new regional and international
customers, generate site sales, market and expose products to new buyers, gain
access to new markets, and promote the Caribbean for high quality products
and services. Additionally, all participants were able to generate sales from
the event at an accumulated value of approximately US$11,100 from buyers in
CARIFORUM, Europe, and North America. Beneficiaries also secured between
2-6 contacts, including manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, other artisans,
boutiques, industry consultants, promoters, and agents.
Design Caribbean was hosted for a third time in Birmingham United Kingdom
within the ambit of Autumn Fair from September 6-9, 2015. The four-day event,
regarded as the season’s number one gift and home trade event in the UK for
international buyers, was the optimal platform to showcase a collection of 10 of
the region’s finest designers and producers. The objectives of the initiative were
to: facilitate better access to buyers from the UK and Europe for the selected
CARIFORUM firms in the gift and craft
sector in order to increase exports to
these markets; provide the selected
CARIFORUM firms in the gift and craft
sector with information and practical
experience on the gift and craft
sector; offer the selected CARIFORUM
firms with significant insight into the
European market for gift and craft
products; and build the awareness of
the brand Design Caribbean.
Ninety-one percent (91%) of the
participants noted that the mission
met their expectations, with 75%
of them achieving their objective of
accessing UK and European buyers.
Some of the immediate outcomes
as a result of attendance included
the ability to network with other
artisans, the discovery of new
trends within the creative industries
sector, promotion of products and
services to new customers, meeting
potential distributors, and a greater
understanding of the opportunities
and challenges for regional artisans.
Further, 48 business leads were
secured, and a total of 27 orders were
confirmed on site with follow-up
activities to be undertaken.
In 2016, Design Caribbean took the
innovative approach of showcasing
regional artisans in the form of a
Pop Up Shop in Camden, London,
UK from November 24-28, 2016. Six
firms participated on this occasion,
with the aim of increasing access and
exports to the UK and EU markets, as
well as gaining practical experience