Through Caribbean Export…

Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad addressing the gathering.

CARIBBEAN Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) established in January 1996 by an Inter-Governmental Agreement as the regional trade and investment promotion agency to the 15 Member States of CARIFORUM (CARICOM plus Dominican Republic), hosted a national workshop yesterday.

It was held at Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, in collaboration with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.

The mission of Caribbean Export is to increase the competitiveness of Member States by providing quality trade and investment development and promotion services through effective programme execution and strategic partnerships and the exercise yesterday surrounded ‘The Role of Standards and Caribbean Export’s Direct Assistance Scheme in Enhancing Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Competitiveness.’

Delivering the feature address, Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Mr. Manniram Prashad posted that local enterprises can realise sustainable growth and development and, simultaneously, combat the many challenges that may arise through implementation of standards and conformity assessment.

He commended the stakeholders on convening the forum and acknowledged that it has come at a troubling time in the financial sector, when key players around the world have turned on the searchlight to find ways of boosting trade, especially in the micro and small enterprises sector.

Pointing out that the small ones make up at least 95 per cent of the global business population, Prashad said they play an integral part in employment and contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He said, in Guyana, the relevance of small businesses is similar, making them extremely important to the economy.

Therefore, every effort must be made to strengthen the competitiveness of SMEs and increase their export potential, by facilitating their involvement in industry, national and regional standardisation activities and developing strategies to access and meet the demands of new markets which will, in turn, bring economic benefits through increased trade,” Prashad said.

CHALLENGES
He noted, though, that, despite efforts by SMEs over the years to organise themselves to access the available benefits, they continue to encounter numerous challenges in getting their products from the place of manufacture to the customers, whether local or foreign.

Caribbean Export Director, Mr. Avalon Jagnandan

Observing that conformity assessment is the name given to the processes that are used to demonstrate that a product, a service or a management system meets specified requirements, Prashad reminded that they are contained in national and international standards and guides.

He said the use of those standards for the purpose allows for harmonisation throughout the world and not only facilitates international trade between countries but also within them, by giving purchasers of the product or service confidence that it meets the requirements.

Prashad encouraged all businesses in the SME sector to take steps now to move in the direction of standardisation, as trade is driven by standards.

The only way in which businesses will survive is by complying with requirements set out therein.

We all know, from present trends, goods coming from developing countries, such as ours, will not receive preferential treatment. As a matter of fact, the world operates on the principle of conformity assessment which is captured in the slogan ‘One Standard, One Test accepted everywhere’,” he advised.

Minister Prashad maintained that conformity assessment provides benefits to everyone in the supply and demand chain, including the consumer, manufacturer and supplier.

&#It also includes regulators who are responsible for ensuring the health and safety of the general public,” he added.

CROSQ Project Manager, Dr Michael Seepersaud

Prashad said conformity assessment is a mechanism providing confidence to consumers, that the products and services purchased are fit for the purpose and also allows them the possibility of seeking appropriate remedies, should what is sold be found not to meet the specified requirements.

In the case of the manufacturers, he said it gives them the confidence that they have implemented systems, within their own organisations, to ensure that the products and services delivered meet the necessary criteria.

EDGE
&#The fact that their products and services meet the requirements of regional or international standards also gives them a competitive edge over those that do not,” Prashad asserted.

With respect to regulators, it affords them the use of the conformity assessment infrastructure, as part of the process used to ensure that health and safety, as well as environmental conditions are being continuously met.

&#The regulator will often make conformity assessment obligatory when it involves health, safety and/or environmental issues. Without official assessment and approval, the regulator may prohibit the sale of products and services,” he cautioned.

GNBS Executive Director, Dr Chatterpaul Ramcharran

Prashad said, not only does conformity assessment provide confidence to consumers and purchasers but it also facilitates the free flow of goods and services between national boundaries.

According to him: “Consumer confidence and international market access are both outcomes for which each and every business should strive.”

He agreed SMEs are facing new challenges today, in the area of technological capabilities, lack of management personnel and competence, need for human resource development and management, strategic planning, funds for advertising and marketing and competitive positioning to benefit from new markets.

&#Yet, I want to encourage you to look positively to the future and capitalise on opportunities such as this workshop to start the process and find innovative ways to enable this sector to contribute to an ever increasing degree of national and regional competitiveness,” Prashad exhorted the seminar participants.

In the context of trade liberalisation and the challenges, he said the main hope for the survival of small businesses is through the implementation of standards.

Prashad said he was very happy to see that GNBS is providing support in this area through its technical assistance programme and the services it offers in the field of metrology.

Against that backdrop, he reassured that the Government will help facilitate the achievement of international competitiveness in this challenging and sometimes hostile trade arena and stands ready to offer its assistance in facilitating the operations of SMEs, by providing an enabling environment and continuing to demonstrate its willingness and commitment to help make them export ready.

&#I know that we all want Guyana to benefit from international trade and have continued market access and investment possibilities to drive its economic development.

PRINCIPLES

&#Hence, we need to, urgently, consider the principles that have been outlined for free trade in the various trade agreements and move to put in place the necessary infrastructure to achieve success,” he recommended.

The Executive Director, Dr Chatterpaul Ramcharran announced that the GNBS vision is to establish a national conformity assessment system and, to this end, a committee has been set up.

Earlier, a director of Caribbean Export, Mr. Avalon Jagnandan, in his remarks, said, at the 14th CARIFORUM Council of Ministers Meeting held in July 2005, it was agreed to amend the ‘Agreement establishing Caribbean Export’ to include investment promotion.

He said this amendment transformed the agency into a regional trade development and investment promotion organisation for the CARIFORUM Member States.

Jagnandan said Caribbean Export is governed by a Board of Directors appointed by the Member States from both the public and private sectors and they are accountable to the CARIFORUM Council of Ministers.

The agency’s head office is in Barbados, with a sub-regional office in the Dominican Republic and its operations are financed by revenues generated from its services and contributions by Member States and donor funding agencies.

&#The main objective of Caribbean Export is to contribute to the gradual integration of CARIFORUM firms into the world economy and, by so doing, enhance regional economic growth,” Jagnandan explained.

He said the aim of the agency is to be a catalyst for regional economic prosperity, through planned interventions on trade development and investment promotion.

Jagnandan said, to support this quest in a dynamic business environment, the agency continues to review and enhance its key result areas and goals which are – fostering regional integration; enhancing competitiveness; investment promotion and building institutional capacity and strengthening networks.

IMPLEMENTING
He said Caribbean Export is currently implementing the ninth European Development Fund project, entitled ‘Caribbean Trade and Private Sector Programme’, the objective of which is to strengthen the competitiveness of CARIFORUM firms and support their integration into the global environment.

It is under this programme that Caribbean Export has decided to host a number of workshops designed to expose business persons on the importance of standards in achieving their export potential,” he stated.

With the implementation of trade agreements, traditional barriers such as tariffs are becoming a thing of the past and overcoming technical barriers to trade, such as standards, are becoming an important feature of export competitiveness and sustainability,” Jagnandan posited.

He informed the gathering, too, that the agency’s work has focused on the implementation of projects targeting creative industries; health and wellness; information technology and communication (ITC); professional services and innovation.

The support for private sector is also clearly demonstrated by the Direct Assistance Grant Scheme which operates on a reimbursement basis,” Jagnandan revealed.

He said, to date, 231 applications have been received and 60 grants awarded and assured that Caribbean Export will continue its close collaboration with CROSQ, GNBS and the Government of Guyana to make sure that firms reach their maximum export potential.

The objectives of the workshop were:

* to promote Caribbean Export Direct Assistance Scheme and how SMEs can access funding to enhance their competitiveness through increasing exports or potential to export goods and services;

* to explain the role of standards bureaus and examine the impact that international standards may have on the ability of firms to penetrate export markets and

* to promote the development and use of standards in CARIFORUM States, with a view to enhancing SME competitiveness.

Among other presentations were an overview of the Caribbean Export Direct Assistance Scheme by its Senior Grant Adviser, Mr. Kirk Brow and of the Regional Standard Development Process by CROSQ Project Manager, Dr. Michael Seepersaud.