CE 2025 Annual Results Report web

FROM POTENTIAL TO PERFORMANCE:

DRIVING EXPORTS THROUGH TARGETED PROGRAMMES

formats and printable options), engagement (including multimedia elements, such as infographics and videos and quizzes), consistency and structure, and contextual relevance (illustrating examples from the Caribbean that beneficiaries can identify with). In addition to the Intellectual Property and ProNET trainings, Caribbean Export identified the need to conduct workshops on how to Leverage the CARIFORUM EU Economic Partnership Agreement as well as capacity-building sessions on the select Standards and Certifications to benefit MSMEs across numerous CARIFORUM territories. Leveraging Trade Agreements and Market Intelligence Caribbean Export intensified support to exporters and export-ready firms to better utilise the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as a tool for market expansion. The Leveraging the CARIFORUM-EU EPA workshops serve as practical interventions designed to help beneficiaries understand and use the trade agreement to gradually increase MSME participation in global value chains. Caribbean Export strengthened MSME capacity for data-driven exporting by promoting greater use of the CEIntelligence Portal. Through the Understanding Market Intelligence training, firms gained practical skills to assess export readiness, select target markets, understand market-entry requirements, and use reliable data sources to inform export strategy and improve competitiveness. Delivered in partnership with domestic business support organisations, the Advancing Standards, Certification and Compliance Recognizing the pivotal role that standards and certifications play in strengthening export competitiveness, Caribbean Export placed a strong emphasis on standards-related capacity building in 2025. The EU Standards & Certifications intervention aimed to enhance the global competitiveness of Caribbean MSMEs by equipping beneficiaries with the necessary certifications and technical knowledge required to access and succeed in the European market, delivered through a phased approach combining capacity building workshops and targeted technical assistance. The 2025 EU Standards and Certifications intervention featured a multi-step approach, with two virtual capacity building workshops, four in-country workshops, and beneficiary audits to support certification and market entry. The two virtual sessions (Webinar 1: EU Market Entry – Understanding EU Food Safety, Quality, Packaging and Labelling Standards and Certifications & Webinar 2: EU Market Entry – Understanding the Sustainability Standards and Certifications) gathered 102 participants across the region, whereas the in-country sessions gathered 107 participants across the four activities. Caribbean Export acknowledges that CARIFORUM MSMEs require additional assistance in order obtain international-level certifications; thus, the EU Standards and Certifications intervention included additional technical assistance to further assist key beneficiaries in obtaining one of the following standards and certifications: • International Standard Certifications (e.g., HACCP, ISO 14001, 19001) • Voluntary Sustainable Standards (e.g. Fair Trade, Organic) • Packaging and Labelling Standards • Sanitary and Phytosanitary Requirements and other Technical Barriers to Trade programme was implemented during: • Curaçao Export Week – 36 participants • Small Business Association of Barbados – 70 participants

Under the 2025 workplan, the Agency delivered a series of three EPA-focused capacity building work shops across three of its 15 territories, reaching a total of 119 beneficiaries:

Trinidad & Tobago

Guyana

Suriname

32

52

35

EU Standards & Certifications

In-country Workshop

Guyana

Suriname

26

43

Trinidad & Tobago

Jamaica

11

27

54 | CARIBBEAN EXPORT ANNUAL RESULTS REPORT 2025