Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016 - 2017

Pulse OF THE CARIBBEAN

Examining the Region’s Export Performance

By Pamela Coke Hamilton

Recent data has shown that the CARIFORUM economyhasgrownoverthelastyearwithanincrease inexportedgoodstoallregionsexceptAfrica.While this is good news, it is tempered by the fact that exports remain concentrated in a few sectors and theregioncontinuestosufferfromlowproductivity and weak linkages to global value chains. Efforts to reform the business environment and increase regionalcompetitivenesshaveledtosomeCaribbean economies’ improved ranking on theWorld Bank’s Doing Business Report 2016. Jamaica (64 in the global ranking), Saint Lucia (77), andTrinidad and Tobago (88) have witnessed the highest rankings in the region. Despite this improvement for a few countries, the regional average still lingers at 108 out of 189 countries. In 2013, exports from the region totalled US$51 billion,buttherewasanoveralltradedeficitofUS$11 billion. Exports from the region still accounted for lessthan1%ofglobalexports.While,asaregion,we havenotbeenabletoeliminatethedeficitaltogether,

the data does show positive movement. Between 2009 and 2013, the region grew its exports to the EU by 2%, to Latin America by 41%, to North America by 11%; and intra-regionally by 9%. This level of growth is laudable as the average export growth rate for CARIFORUM remains higher than that of other regions. The region’s trade performance is highlighted by growth in goods and services exports by 17% and 12% respectively. As a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the region’s services exports at 36% was almost double that of goods exports (17%). The services sector was the greater contributor to GDP for the majority of CARIFORUMcountries,particularlythosefromthe Organisation of EasternCaribbean States (OECS). In terms of the share of services trade, the largest services exporters from the region were the Dominican Republic followed by Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Barbados. While data on trade in services is not readily

available,tourism,whichisthemainservicessector for the region, grewby 2.3% earningUS$28 billion in 2013. Acloser look at the region’s export performance by sector gives us a better understanding of where the opportunitiesforexpansionexistandthedirection inwhichwe should be moving. Agro-Processing The agro-processing sector, although only totalling US$2.2 billion in 2013 and representing 7% of global exports, has significant potential that we are yet to sufficiently capitalise on. Export data out of the agro-processing sector suggests that the CARIFORUM region is not taking full advantage of the opportunities to supply the world’s top demanded agro-processing products. When it comes to intra-CARIFORUM trade, the region currently supplies only four of the top 10 demanded products; the statistics are

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