WHAT'S NEW AT  COMPETE CARIBBEAN
FOUR PROJECTS SELECTED FOR COMPETE CARIBBEAN FUNDING
Eight finalists representing cluster projects from across the region vied for funding from Compete Caribbean on Friday, January 19, 2018.  An independent investment panel evaluated the cluster projects' potential impact on the generation of revenue and foreign exchange, and creation of jobs, including employment for women and marginalized groups.  Four projects were selected:
  1. Shrimp Biosecurity Aquaculture Zone Management, by Belize Shrimp Growers' Association (BSGA)
  2. Digitization of Jamaica's Outsourcing industry: Enhancing Business Models and Advancing up the Vertical Value Chain, by Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ)
  3. JBU Grow Castor Bean Project, by Jamaica Baptist Union
  4. Agritourism Project, by North East Cluster in Grenada (pending review of scope)
Additionally to providing financing for the four winning proposals, Compete Caribbean is working to find support for many of the 91 applications from across the region. Some will be introduced to key partners whose objectives are aligned; and some others will be considered for other instruments that Compete Caribbean will be deploying over the next five years.

TESTIMONIALS ABOUT THE IMPACT AND IMPORTANCE OF CLUSTERS

During the Investment Panel carried-out in January 19th, Compete Caribbean had the chance to discuss with the eight finalists the impact that clustering has had in their respective industries.
 
COMPETE CARIBBEAN STARTS CAPACITY BUILDING ACTIVITIES IN BSOs
Another Compete Caribbean Project "Cluster Capacity Building in Small and Vulnerable Countries" started activities with 3 important events in January, 2018.
  1. First a two-day workshop was held for attending BSOs to kick-start activities of the project in the region;
  2. Subsequently a site visit and corresponding workshops were carried-out to the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) in Barbados;
  3. Finally, a Compete Caribbean team visited the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) for meetings and and a national workshop.
    Learn more about our visit to Guyana
Compete Caribbean has developed this project to increase the capacity of business support organizations (BSOs)  in the region, identify potential cluster projects, and develop strategies to implement them. The following graph illustrates the project's 
sequencing  for BSO  capacity building.
FEATURED RESEARCH
Working Paper:
An integrated analysis of the impact of gender diversity on innovation and productivity in manufacturing firms

This paper presents evidence of the effects of gender diversity on firm innovation outcomes and their productivity in Colombian manufacturing firms.

These firms extended a CDM model to include women's participation in science, technology and innovation (STI) activities and production processes.

The paper makes a methodological contribution by taking into account potential endogeneity issues of women's participation in STI and innovation behavior.  



Report:
Tourism Highlights 2017 - UNWTO

An ever-increasing number of destinations worldwide have opened up to, and invested in tourism, turning it into a key driver of socio-economic progress through the creation of jobs and enterprises, export revenues, and infrastructure development.

Over the past six decades, tourism has experienced continued expansion and diversification to become one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world.

Many new destinations have emerged in addition to the traditional favorites of Europe and North America.



Report:
Impact of digital security incidents in Colombia  2017

The present report offers a vision of the level of preparation of Colombian public entities and private companies to face threats to their digital security. 

It also allows for a deeper awareness of the economic costs of cyber incidents for different sectors of the country's economy, presenting findings in terms of enterprise profiles.


Read the full report
 

NEWS FROM OUR DONORS
Positive economic growth expected for the Caribbean region in 2018, but resilience-building measures needed

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is projecting regional economic growth of 2% in 2018. This follows a return to positive figures last year, during which the Region experienced overall growth of 0.6%-despite the devastation caused by the Atlantic Hurricane Season. Learn more



Planting a seed to shape the future of agri-businesses in Belize 

As part of a USD 512,000 enhancement project funded by the CDB, a new state-of-the-art greenhouse constructed at the ESTM High School will be used to help students pursue increasing opportunities in the agri-business sector. Learn more

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IDB launches call for proposals about digital solutions in open code for sub-national tax administration

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) invites organizations, governments and individuals to participate in the call for proposals about digital tools in open code aimed at improving tax administration of sub-national governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The tools selected will be published on the Code for Development Platform of the IDB to put them at the disposal of any sub-national government interested in improving its tax administration. Learn more