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Tradewatch
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The Official E-Newsletter of the Caribbean Export Development Agency • Vol. 8 No. 3 July 2014
TRAINING & CERTIFICATION FOR CAPACITY BUILDING
SVG Coalition of Service Industries Hosts Services
Awareness Week and Proposal Writing Workshop
Participants of the Proposal Writing Workshop listen during the
presentation session.
The services industry is increasingly becoming a major
topic of discussion on the regional economic landscape.
The highly specialized and globally marketable nature of
the sector has led it to be identified as potentially lucrative
areas of investment for the region. As a result, it has become
an area of priority for Caribbean Export and region-wide
stakeholders. The Agency has invested resources in the
creation of educational and capacity building opportunities
for services providers, in close partnership with regional
Coalitions of Service Industries (CSIs). The most recent
of these collaborations was with the St. Vincent & the
Grenadines Coalition of Service Industries during the
Coalition’s Services Awareness Week in Kingstown from
May 5-9, 2014. Caribbean Export sponsored and led a grant
proposal writing workshop on May 8, which sought to equip
the attendees with the knowledge and skills to construct a
grant proposal which is likely to be successful in its bid.
Caribbean Export’s Senior Grant Advisor and administrator
of the Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS) programme,
Kirk Brown led the workshop and provided invaluable insight
to the participants on the elements of an effective proposal.
DAGS in the Agency’s flagship grant funding programme,
which provides reimbursable funding to hundreds of
firms each year. The biannual Calls for Proposals attract
applications from hundreds of firms across the region and
those successful in their bids have been provided with funds
to realize their developmental goals.
The workshop, which saw service providers from a wide
range of sub-sectors in the industry in attendance, was
held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and consisted of
both instruction and break-out group sessions for practical
application of knowledge. Mr Brown stressed the need for
professionals to master the construction of a comprehensive
proposal, because of the boost that the service industry as a
whole can gain from the type of funding which programmes
like DAGS can provide.
At the end of the session, participants reported that they
had gained a much more in-depth sense of the elements of a
potentially successful funding proposal. They also expressed
that it had been a beneficial experience, which would enrich
both them and their respective companies.
(TW)
Senior Grant Advisor, Caribbean Export during his presentation at the recently
concluded grant proposal writing training in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
A section of the audience during the workshop