11TH European Development Fund Implementation Report 2017- 2023

(3) Services Go Global The Services Go Global (SGG) programme was developed to optimize the CARIFORUM region’s export of services by building the capacity of service providers to capitalize on opportunities under the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), CARICOM Single Market (CSM) and other existing 3rd party Trade Agreements; and to establish a cadre of certified Trainers for the SGG platform geared to assist SMEs in the services sector. Export-readiness was the ultimate objective, as participants were guided through a 4-stage Roadmap, which covers 4 key areas: Stage 1 - Preparing Your Business, Stage 2 - Conducting Market Research, Stage 3 – Developing a Marketing Strategy and Stage 4 - Entering the Market (see Annex V). A total of 137 service providers participated in the SGG training from 7 CARIFORUM countries. In the evaluation 78% of participants stated that the programme equipped them to increase their exports. Further, 44% of the participants cited the market research and market strategy modules were the most relevant for their operations; while 56% of persons saw other elements like the value proposition, networking and building relationships as most relevant. (4) Export Competitiveness Accelerator The services sector plays a critical role in many Caribbean countries. Improving the export competitiveness of the region's service providers is key to the successful growth and development of Caribbean economies. This project aimed to prioritize and improve the export competitiveness of Caribbean services providers both regionally and internationally. The specific objectives of the project encompassed enhancing the export competitiveness of CARIFORUM Services providers within major sectors in the region, identification of at least three new export markets for these providers, promoting and augmenting service exports from the CARIFORUM region, fostering development and growth in the Service Sector, boosting the sale of services originating from the CARIFORUM region, and fostering partnerships among CARIFORUM services providers to facilitate collaboration and synergy for collective advancement. The programme took participants through a 4-stage process that included: 1. Diagnosis of international competition capacities 2. Identification of new export markets 3. Development of contact lists of potential buyers in new markets 4. Business to business meetings with interested buyers.

A total of 40 companies participated in the programme from 10 CARIFORUM countries

(Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago) that offered services including audiovisual, software development, business services, among others.

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A total of 547 business leads were generated for companies and 57 business to business meetings were conducted.

Implementation of the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP)

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