An Education Needs Assessment of CARIFORUM Firms

SECTION III: RECOMMENDATIONS & COURSE OUTLINES

The section focuses primarily on the immediate deliverable outlined in the Terms of Reference,

which is to propose at least three course outlines and to provide recommendations on Caribbean

Exportrole in bridging the gap and fostering the development of the private sector through training

and becoming the knowledge hub for firms across CARIFORUM.

3.1 Recommendations

Drawing from the overall report’s findings the following recommendations are made:

• The courses developed should reflect the skills gaps identified throughout the report. Some

courses should seek to cover cross-cutting areas notably business skills, soft skills

(communication, customer service, etc.), and e-commerce/digital skills. Consideration

must equally be given to the creation of in-depth sector specific training programmes ,

especially for newer niche areas like the coloured economy. Caribbean Export can leverage

such training to increase the participation of private sector firms in these new areas and

better align commercial efforts with the region’s aspirational trajectory which is centred

around innovation and sustainable development.

• With a mandate to increase regional exports, Caribbean Export should champion the

development of export-oriented training , which was one of the biggest skills gaps

identified. However, in addition to, or instead of, direct training programmes, the creation

of an export-ready online Knowledge Hub , which provides on-demand information to

firms that would allow them to access and penetrate traditional markets (North America

and Europe) as well as newer ones like Latin America, Africa, and Asia, would be a highly

regarded resource. This Hub could also seek to provide market intelligence and trade

facilitation insights. It is equally important that the hub provides practical information that

can be implemented by the potential exporter. In addition, and separate from the needs

assessment training, the survey results suggested that Caribbean exports could add great

value by providing support to BSOs in export promotion activities .

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