Germany committed to the region

Germany is willing to help the Caribbean rebound from the impact of the global recession.

Testament of Germany’s commitment is the fact that they partnered with the EPA Implementation Unit within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Barbados to organise a two-day workshop at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre to raise awareness, inform and educate local business people.

Ullrich Kinne, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of
Germany to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, the OECS,
Guyana and Suriname, has pledged the continued
support of Germany to the Caribbean.

Numerous business persons from around Barbados
were present to learn of the tangible benefits of EPA.

However, this point was made even clearer and reiterated as Ullrich Kinne, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Germany to Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, the OECS, Guyana and Suriname, made his remarks at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre recently.

“It is high time to discuss how exports to the European markets can be increased and by that, economic wealth created in the Caribbean. […] Most Caribbean products are not targeting large retail stores but highly specialised markets, and growth rates in Europe for example for organic food, fair trade products and convenience food, to name only some segments, are extremely high,” he said.

He gave the assurance that, “Germany is financing projects in the Caribbean which are meant to support the implementation of the EPA and to strengthen the export potential of the Caribbean economies.”

Kinne told the audience at the “Converting EU Market Access into Tangible Benefits” workshop: “The Caribbean has been hit harder by the global recession than many other regions and is still struggling to get out of it. [However], having been the first region to conclude an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union, the Caribbean has a head-start in preparing itself for an increasingly competitive global trade environment and profit from EU assistance in this regard.”

As further incentive to get private sector on board, Kinne used an example of a tangible benefit already achieved to illustrate the advantage of support from Germany through the GIZ and PTB, two German export promotion and capacity development of business support organisations and state institutions.

“In October, GIZ together with the Caribbean Export Development Agency organised a booth at ANGUA, the world’s largest B2B food fair. Eleven companies from the Caribbean were participating. […] Out of the 1 200 applications, 53 products were selected, three of which came from the Caribbean booth. One of these products came from Barbados – Tiger Malt,” he stated.

He assured that not only was that project a huge success, but “[it] increased the sales of all the companies”. (KG)