Basseterre, St. Kitts (June 15, 2006): The hospitality sector has an opportunity to make Cricket World Cup 2007 a truly Caribbean experience by offering products they purchase at the upcoming OECS Trade Exhibition to patrons of the 2007 Cricket games held in Caribbean islands.
The hospitality sector has been specifically targeted for this first showing of export-ready products made possible following preparations of local companies over a five-year period by the OECS to upgrade their products to new levels.
Through interventions in management enhancement, product development, quality assurance, marketing research and product promotion, the OECS EDU sought to make their companies export ready.
~~Adz:Right~~Two hundred companies across the nine member countries have received technical assistance and of these companies, "75 are now export ready and positioned to enter the regional and international markets," as confirmed by independent evaluations conducted on completion of the Export Capability Enhancement Programme.
The exhibition is designed to begin the process of promoting OECS products to potential Caribbean markets using the upcoming Cricket World Cup as an undeniably opportunistic means of doing so.
The showcase will facilitate the interaction of small and medium enterprises in the export sector helping them to interface with buyers of the hotel and hospitality sectors and negotiate deals for the entry of their products and services into the wider Caribbean markets.
It will also expose products and the work of the OECS Secretariat to regional policy makers, government officials, professionals and the general public. The show is also seen as a pre-cursor to the Caribbean Gift and Craft Show in September which will showcase products from the wider Caribbean and Latin American Countries.
Approximately 50 companies have been invited to participate in the exhibition to display items such as food and beverages; furniture; garment and textiles; herbal goods; handicraft; light manufacturing; music and entertainment. Some 15 companies from the Federation will be among exhibitors.
The June 21-23 event will be held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort.
