Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 2016 - 2017

Pulse OF THE CARIBBEAN

In 2013, exports from the region totaled US$51 billion, but there was an overall trade deficit of US$11 billion.

the same for Asia and North America, while for LatinAmericatheregiononlysuppliesthreeoftheir top 10 demanded products. Some of the products demanded by thesemarkets, which the Caribbean currentlyproducesbutisnotcapitalisingon,include non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages, juices, cocoa and chocolates, hot sauces, and biscuits. There are, however, positive movements in the sector. The regional export of agro-processed products has grown an average of 6% between 2009 and 2013. The main exports include food preparations, sugar and confectionery; fruits and nuts; and beverages and spirits. The key markets for these goods were NorthAmerica, Europe and intra-regional. To continue along this growth path the region must look at ways to capitalise on the growing demand for goods that we can supply. Interestingly, the Caribbean is a net food importer with a food import bill of US$4 billion. An in-depth analysis would suggest that themost important market that the Caribbean is failing

to fulfill demand is right here at home. Perhaps exploring this market ought to be our first order of business. Following this, we must find ways to move away from our traditional markets, which are continuing to shrink andmove towards newer markets such as Latin America and Africa. CARIFORUM, for example, produces seven of the 10 most demanded products in Africa which is the largest growing market. These items include tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, cigars, preserved fruits, food preparations, prepared fish, and animal feeds. However, the region is not fully exploiting this market. CARIFORUM only exported 3.7% of tobacco and 0.01% of cereals and alcoholic beverages to Africa in 2013. In fact, CARIFORUM exports to Africa declined by 24% between 2009 and 2013. While the Caribbean exports agro-processing products to the US, there are still unexploited opportunities. For example, hot pepper sauce is a

more thanUS$1billion annualmarket and globally the demand for this commodity has grown at a rate of 9.3% annually over the past decade. This is another product that is well suited to our agro- processing sector. However, despite having hot sauce producers in almost every CARIFORUM country, the region is not benefitting significantly fromthe growth in the hot saucemarket in theUS. Cocoa and chocolate are two other products with huge opportunities for CARIFORUM to supply given the significant demandworldwide, especially in select European markets. Creative Industries The Caribbean should also focus its attention on the global creative and cultural industries which was estimated to be valued at US$1.8 trillion in 2010. In a 2010 study of the creative sector in Europe, 6.8% of GDP (approximately €680 billion) was attributed to the creative industries.

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