Last year, IICA and exporTT partnered in a meaningful exercise to engage private sector on issues impacting intra-regional trade in the region as well as expose them to opportunities via the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). Herbs and spices are identified as items with tremendous opportunity for growth, specifically in relation to supporting employment generation, foreign exchange earnings, food security, support to the tourism sector and overall health benefits to consumers.
In recent times, the herbs and spices industry has been formerly recognized by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) as a priority ‘commodity’ for development by national and regional agencies. The Caribbean Agribusiness Association (CABA) was assigned the responsibility to coordinate the various developmental efforts as well as promote opportunities in the industry. In seeking to advance the industry, CABA has been advocating for the development of investment profiles which can serve as a mechanism to highlight investment opportunities and expand the industry.
In support of this effort, IICA has joined with CABA to develop a few investment profiles. At present, we are in the process of completing two investment profiles (one for moringa and the other for turmeric). With the completion of these investment profiles, IICA and CABA seek to validate the profiles by engaging key regional player as well as promote the opportunities to the stakeholders at yesterday’s meeting hosted by exporTT.
Greg Rawlins, IICA Representative in Trinidad and Tobago
