Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 3rd Edition

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Our Competitive Advantage

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conomic growth in the Caribbean region is forecasted to increase from 0.9 percent in 2017 to 2.0 percent in 2018 with the prospects to increase further to 2.6 percent in 2019. However, these targets can only be achieved if the Caribbean region can improve its fundamental industries amidst global geopolitical occurrences to keep abreast with rapidly changing technology. Presently, Caribbean countries focus mainly on the provision of tourism services and the production of minerals and agriculture crops as the main economic activities. Many of these Caribbean territories possess extensive history of partaking in global agricultural value chains such as sugarcane, bananas, cocoa, cotton, citrus, ornamentals, coconut and coffee. These value chains have contributed significantly to the development of the Caribbean economies and in some economies agriculture is still the largest contributor to GDP, despite losing competitive advantages to global markets. The uniqueness and difference in biogeography of the regions’ archipelago has allowed for the exploitation of various agricultural commodities, which have contributed to the brand of tropical colours, flavors, and tastes that are unique to the Caribbean region. However, the Caribbean region’s agricultural sector has suffered tremendous setbacks over recent decades due to global trade tariffs, climatic events and loss of preferential treatments to European markets. Low growth in output and high debt to GDP ratios is a characteristic of most of the countries in the region that remain susceptible to external shocks mainly in the form of natural disasters, for example, hurricanes, floods, droughts, volcanoes and earthquakes. In 1997, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruled the EU’s banana import regime was inconsistent with the EU’s tariff quota, particularly to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. Subsequently, the Caribbean region lost preferential treatment to the EU banana market that severely impacted the economies of the smaller Caribbean island states. Data from the local police forces suggests that cannabis currently contributes more to the domestic economy as bananas did in its heydays of production . The cannabis plant was made popular in the Caribbean region in the 1800s with the co-mingling of indentured labourers from Asia and the African slaves who took part