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PARTICIPATION IN CARIFORUM-EU BUSINESS FORUM BY COUNTRY
COUNTRY
Antigua & Barbuda
6
Bahamas
8
Barbados
21
Belize
4
Dominica
11
Dominican Republic
22
Grenada
5
Guyana
10
Haiti
8
Jamaica
69
St. Kitts & Nevis
4
St.
Lucia
15
St. Vincent &
the Grenadines
8
Suriname
7
Trinidad and Tobago
32
Africa
6
North America
4
Europe
71
Pacific
7
NO. OF PARTICIPANTS
manufacturing, music, agro-processing and higher education sectors; the
importance of creating regional synergies in order to market the Caribbean
adequately to Europe and the value of intra-regional trade to boost the economic
development of the Caribbean.
During the 2015 hosting of the Forum, B2B meetings and Business Development
Café’s were hosted for SME participants. A review of participation revealed that
71% of the B2B beneficiaries noted that their objectives for attending the event
were met. As a result of participation, two regional firms have been able to
secure contracts with an estimated combined value of US$290,000. Additionally,
85% of participants were also able to establish informal contacts with at least
three firms other than those they intended to meet. Eighty-nine percent (89%)
of participants cited that the Business Development Café met their objectives. In
particular the consultations with experts and networking opportunities received
a rating of excellent from 96% of participants.
Outcomes of a 6-month follow-up assessment revealed that 92% of respondents
(13 firms) were able to establish a combined total of 292 business contacts
during the B2B sessions; these
included CARIFORUM manufacturers,
distributors, and buyers; European
manufacturers,distributorsandbuyers;
agents/promoters; festival organisers;
and higher education institutions. Six
firms have also secured contracts, or
traded with these contacts within the
last six months.
In terms of immediate tomedium-term
outcomes, four beneficiary firms were
able to identify new regional markets
for export, and six firms were able to
identify new international markets
for export, with 50% of this total
entering these markets for trade. New
markets entered include the Caribbean
(Barbados, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint
Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago),
Europe (France, Germany, Hungary,
Norway, United Kingdom) Panama,
and the United States. Results include
five firms seeing an increase in sales
on entering these markets, while eight
firms have generated increased export
sales overall during the last six months
ranging from US$1,500 - $2,500 or
higher.
Sixty-four percent (64%) of beneficiary
firms further noted that the B2B
sessions aided them in taking
advantage of opportunities offered
by the CARIFORUM-EU EPA in a
number of areas including gaining
market intelligence data, market entry
requirements, and expanding their
networks among others. Overall, an
average of 28% of SME participants
have been able to secure contracts with
European firms following participation
in both Forums.
PROMOTING TRADE
AND EXPORT DEVELOPMENT