Caribbean Export Implementation Report 2017-2020

SME DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT TOOL Under the 10th EDF RPSDP, Caribbean Export commissioned the design and the development of an SME Diagnostic Assessment Tool. This web-based enterprise-level tool enables the Agency to undertake a scientific assessment of regional firms. The Tool offers a practical approach to increasing firm competitiveness by diagnosing a firm's strengths and weaknesses and identifying the areas of support that the Agency can deliver independently or in collaboration with partners. The Tool was launched in 2016 and upgrades to the platformwere carried out continuously under the 11th EDF. These upgrades included changes to the database architecture, interface, and language capabilities (the Tool was translated into French and Spanish). The Agency conducted training for CARIFORUM BSOs’ utilisation of the Tool and interpretation of results. During the training, BSOs also tested the Tool to provide feedback on suggested updates to the Agency. The Agency trained one hundred and fifteen (115) BSO staff members on the Tool across eleven (11) CARIFORUM states between January 2017 to December 2020. The table below provides statistics on the number of BSO staff members trained per country.

TABLE 10: DIAGNOSTIC TOOL TRAINING

COUNTRY

BSOs TRAINED

# OF PARTICIPANTS

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua & Barbuda Investment Authority (ABIA)

8

Barbados

2

Belize

BELTRAIDE Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry Belize Coalition of Service Providers

16

Dominica

National Development Foundation of Dominica (NDFD) Small Business Support Unit (SBSU) Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Business and Export Development Dominica Export Import Agency (DEXIA)

26

Grenada

Grenada Investment Development Corporation (GIDC)

7

Jamaica

Jamaica Manufacturers & Exporters Association (JMEA)

12

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Kitts & Nevis Chamber of Industry & Commerce

3

Saint Lucia

OECS Competitive Business Unit Trade Export Promotion Agency (TEPA)

6

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

InvestSVG

9

Suriname

4

Trinidad and Tobago

ExporTT

22

Total

115

28