Who will be the next Caribbean Exporter of the Year?

Bridgetown, Barbados.- The search for the Caribbean Exporter of the Year Award (CEYA) winnerfor 2016 is on.

In addition to recognising the substantial contributionmade by the region’s private sector to the Caribbean economy, the CaribbeanExport Development Agency (Caribbean Export) seeks to cement an exporting ethosin the minds and operations of the regions private sector, in addition to thoselooking to start businesses. Under thetheme ‘Celebrating 20 Years of Supporting Exports’, the Awards will mark asignificant milestone as the Agency commemorates 20 years of operations in June2016.

There are five awards to be presented at this year’sceremony: Emerging Exporter of the Year; Female Exporter of the Year; GreenExporter of the Year; Caribbean Exporter of the Year; and a Special Award forExcellence in Services Exports. Following last years’ inaugural event,Caribbean Exporter of the Year award winner Sacha Cosmetics has continued togrow in to new markets such as Cuba and Panama. In challenging markets such as Cuba, the Award contributed to the credibilityof the company to penetrate the strict government buying process.

“Recognising and supporting our region’s exporters is a keyaspect to helping companies be more competitive and to penetrate existing andnew export markets further. It’s also simply nice to receive an award!”expressed Executive Director, Pamela Coke Hamilton. “The fact of the matter is our exporters workhard in very challenging times, and although the Agency facilitates a number ofinterventions to assist them the CEYA Award and the promotion or accolades thatcome with it should not be marginalised”.

This 2nd staging of the Caribbean Exporter of the YearAwards is supported by the European Union as part of the 10th EDF RegionalPrivate Sector Development Programme and is hoped to foster and strengthen agreater export culture throughout the Caribbean by giving significantrecognition to the winners and sending a strong message to current andpotential buyers, investors or other stakeholders that these exporters aremarket leaders and successful business persons. Details of previous winners and information on how to apply can be foundon the Agency’s website.