Minister of State in Foreign Trade and Business, Sandra Husbands, has commended the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) for its work in assisting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in accessing equitable financial opportunities and new markets.
Ms. Husbands was delivering remarks on Wednesday evening at CEDA’s Annual Results Report for 2022, at the Hilton Barbados Resort.
She said: “On behalf of the Government of Barbados, I congratulate you in your continued success and your unwavering commitment to capturing and sharing the results in the form of an Annual Reports Survey.… I would really like to thank CEDA for their work in supporting the export development of Barbados private sector firms and championing greater trade facilitation between the region and the international community.”
The Minister of State, in her analysis of regional efforts in trade, noted that it is vital that the region worked collectively to increase its trade outputs globally.
“Our internal trade volumes fall well below what obtains in other trading blocs. While we accept that there are challenges in the area of transportation, limited resources, cost of production and scale in some jurisdictions, I am convinced that by leveraging our collective resources and by advancing efforts at deepening integration in the various existing arrangements, the trading situation can be increased, as we seek to surpass pre-pandemic levels in terms of trade in both goods and services. Each country has to play its part,” she stressed.
Minister Husbands gave the assurance that Barbados remains committed to supporting the transformational agenda of CEDA and through the support of its partners and organisations will continue to chart a path for local businesses to build economic strength and to do so in a sustainable manner, all the while navigating the network of new and existing barriers to trade.
CEDA’s Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Dr. Lynette Holder, in her report on the efforts of the Agency in 2022, said that the Agency ramped up implementation of its Strategic Plan 2021–2024.
“Caribbean Export rolled out a complement of some 47 interventions, impacting over 1,000 stakeholders from its 15 member states, including private sector firms, business support organisations and investment promotion agencies.
“One of the Agency’s major objectives for 2022 in its strategic plan was to market the Caribbean as the premier destination for investment, [and] the launch of the inaugural landmark Caribbean Investment Forum 2022 laid the groundwork towards making that a reality.”
CEDA’s Executive Director, Deodat Maharaj, shared that in 2022 it achieved an 89 per cent implementation rate against total budget for the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Private Sector Development Programme; over US$2.1 million in grant funding was dispersed to 138 small businesses, and 52 per cent of beneficiaries were women.
Both Dr. Holder and Mr. Maharaj gave the assurance that the Agency remained committed to improving the capacity of private sector firms and the market access for export-ready products and services to grow exports from the region to the international community.
During the evening, three staff members were recognised for their contribution to the agency in achieving its goals for 2022. They were: Programme Officer, Veronica Henry; Manager, Competitiveness and Export Promotion, Dr. Damie Sinanan, and Research Officer, Market Intelligence, Mikaela Stoute.