Today I had the pleasure of attending the first day of the 2nd Caribbean Competitiveness Forum at the Jamaican Pegasus Hotel. The Forum was hosted by the Caribbean Centre for Competitiveness (CCfC) and falls under the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at the University of the
West Indies. The Forum was well organized and the first day saw presentations and addresses from over 20 speakers. Speakers came from wide and varying backgrounds including academia and the private sector. The forum also included presentations of four (4) CCfC Case Studies.
The day began with greetings from UWI and the Sponsors of the Forum including, Compete Caribbean, Inter-American Development Bank, the Department of Foreign Aid and Trade and Development – Canada (DFATD), the Department for International Development (DIFID) UK and Caribbean Export Development
Agency.
The Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce (Jamaica) the Honourable Anthony Hylton officially began the day by giving the feature address. His address outlined Jamaica’s Trade Strategy and defined the areas of development which the current administration has identified. These sectors include Services Sectors such as ICT, Animation and Call Centres.
The highlight of the day for me was the address by the first Keynote Speaker Levi Roots. Roots delivered speech entitled “Reggae, from Stage to Kitchen: Lessons from a Diasporic Trail Blazer”. In his speech he pointed to the fact that new businesses and SMEs require mentorship from other successful businesses and also financial support. He said that the two go hand in hand because many companies receive money and then do not know what to do with it. SMEs have a tendency to not be able to manage cash flow which ought to be split into two aspects, back to the investor and back into the business. He was fortunate to
receive both mentorship and financial support through a venture capitalist who gained interest in his products through a television programme in the UK named Dragon’s Den. Roots joked about slaying the Dragon which lead him to own a brand which is the most widely distributed sauce in the UK, outperforming Heinz in some instances. His line of Reggae Reggae Sauces are manufactured in the UK and Poland but his raw materials including Scotch Bonnet pepper and Pimento comes from Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean. Roots plans to launch a chain of Caribbean Restaurants in the UK with 30-40 locations over the next 5 years.
The Diasporic theme was further explored by Dr Keith Nurse who presented in the Compete Caribbean Roundtable session where he showed significant innovation by some companies who interact with the diaspora. Dr Nurse illustrated how several firms chose to operate at the higher end of the value chain to capitalise on the diaspora. He provided examples from Jamaica, where the Jamaican National Trust set up a facility where mortgages can be paid from family members living abroad. Dr Nurse also points to Suriname where the SuriChange Bank is one of the rare cases where an indigenous financial institution dominates the transfer of Remittances rather than Western Union or Money Gram.
Today was a long but very enlightening day. I look forward to the second day of the Forum which will feature two Keynote speakers – Ambassador Dr Richard Bernal and Dr Clive Muir. Tomorrow will also feature thematic sessions which speak to the Services Sector and Manufacturing in the region.
More updates soon.
