November 2016

Compete Caribbean host regional dialogue on competitiveness 
Panel Discussion on “ The Business Climate as a Launching Pad for Enhanced Growth: Progress and Lessons Learned from Compete Caribbean Projects ,”
Left to right: Moderator  Tara Lisa Persaud, Compete Caribbean Business Climate Coordinator.  Marjorie Straw, Manager of Special Projects, (JAMPRO), Melanie Gideon, GM, Enterprise and Innovation, BELTRAIDE, Fiona Hinkson, Executive Director, St. Lucia National Competitiveness and Productivity Council and Merina Jessamy, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Grenada.


The Compete Caribbean Regional Dialogue held at Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Tuesday November 22, provided an opportunity for donors and beneficiaries of the Program to reflect on its execution over the past six year, network and build a case for or against a phase two of the program. 

T he Dialogue featured a number of presentations by high-ranking IDB, UK and Canadian officials, panel discussions by beneficiaries where they got to tell their stories, and discussions from academics who intellectualized about the program’s benefits.  Click here
to read more.


Missed a moment from our  Regional Dialogue? Re-live the event at our media hub, including the full set of presentation made.
Compete Caribbean hosts inaugural mediathon for Caribbean journalists

Members of the winning group STEM-tastic presenting their innovative idea.  Left to right: Tameka Lundy, Courtney Weatherburne ,  Deanya Knowles and Marleni Cuellar

Compete Caribbean’s final event in its three-day long celebration and dialogue was the climax of the Mediathon at the IDB Barbados headquarters.  The Mediathon commenced on Tuesday November 22 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.

Participants from Barbados, Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize and St. Kitts, were separated into working groups and asked to come up with an innovation which incorporated technology and science that would help the Caribbean.


The eventual winners were the Group STEM-tastic, with ‘IV Untapped ’placing second.  This announcement was followed by an award presentation. The two winning teams will receive mentorship to turn their ideas into reality and a first refusal option by the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation to air televised content.  Participants all lauded Compete Caribbean for a well-executed event, with many echoing that they had “learned so much.”

Read more about the winners here.



Beneficiaries endorse Compete Caribbean

Minister Alexandra Otway-Noel sharing Grenada's experience as a beneficiary of Compete Caribbean with the audience and her fellow panelists from left to right: Diane Edwards, Jamaica Promotions Corporation; Ronald Hind, CEO, Teleios Limited; Fiona Hinkson, Executive Director of the St. Lucia National Competitiveness and Productivity Council; and Dr. Keith Nurse, Senior Fellow of UWI-SALISES
The Compete Caribbean programme, aimed at driving growth in the region by providing technical assistance and investment funding to project developers, was lauded as a success, which has started the Caribbean on a path to improved competitiveness.  The endorsement came from stakeholders on Monday, November 21st , 2016  at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre at its Phase 1 Celebration and Stocktaking Event.

Beneficiaries from around the Caribbean representing the public and private sectors, as well as academia, spoke of their experience with the programme, which they all pointed out was a catalyst in the region.
Caribbean Regional Entrepreneurial Asset Commercialisation Hub (R.E.A.C.H)  Consulting opportunities 
The Caribbean Regional Entrepreneurial Asset Commercialization Hub (REACH) has bee established by funding from the Inter-American Development Bank and is currently being executed by the University of the West Indies. The objective of the project is to foster innovation and competitiveness in Caribbean SMEs and will establish facilities that will provide support services for improved management through three main categories of available IPR tools (i) patents, industrial designs and utility models (technology transfer) (ii) copyrights in the creative industries, and (iii) trademarks and product branding of exporting companies. 

Part of the proceeds from this project have been earmarked for consulting services geared towards the following:

  1.  Regional Programme for the Creative Industries ( See full Terms of Reference here).

  2. Design, Development and Implementation of a Pipeline of Innovative and Sustainable Technologies Ventures in the Caribbean (See full Terms of Reference here).
Proposals should be submitted electronically to the REACH Project Manager at AdminAssistantREACH@sta.uwi.edu by December 16th, 2016. 
The role of " Innovative Procurement " in Latin America and the Caribbean
 Public procurement accounts for a significant proportion of overall demand for goods and services. Thus, it could be a useful tool for fostering innovation and economic growth. While interest in the use of public procurement as industrial policy is not new, its potential to spur demand for innovative products and services, create incentives for business innovation, and accelerate the diffusion of new technologies has received much policy attention in recent years. The aim of this study is to advance knowledge on the role of public procurement as a demand-side policy instrument in stimulating firm innovation in Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries.

Read more  here .
Compete Caribbean | 246 627 8527 | 246 429 8869 | competecaribbean@iadb.org | competecaribbean.org