More than 200 exhibitors from over 20 Caribbean countries ranging from Cuba in the North to Suriname in the south and including the French Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Curacao, and St. Maarten, and all the CARICOM countries will participate in the thirteenth edition of the Caribbean Gift and Craft Show scheduled for the St. Kitts Marriott Resort from September 14-17, 2006.
Over 18 categories of products including aromatherapy, batik, garments, specialty foods, paintings, ceramics, pottery, metal craft, wood craft, leather craft, glass ware, straw and woven products, basketry etc will be on display at the show.
Over 300 trade buyers from the region, North America and Europe are expected to attend the show over the four day period, the first two days of which are restricted to member of the trade only to facilitate successful business transactions.
The official opening of the show is slated for Thursday, September 14th at 5.00pm when the Hon. Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis will give the keynote address and declare the show's opening. The Best of Show Awards, which is sponsored by the show's major sponsor FirstCaribbean International Bank, will be part of the opening ceremony. The awards will be in the following categories: Best New Product/Product Line the premier award, Best Booth Display, Best Handcrafted Product and Outstanding Creative Packaging.
CGCS 2006 opens to members of the public on Friday September 15th at 5.00pm. On that night from 7.00pm - 8.30pm the eagerly anticipated Caribbean Fashion Rhythms under the theme "Creative Explosions" takes to the stage. Some 30 fashion designers will showcase their ladies, gents and children creations and fashion accessories in a dynamic display of fashion, colour and music.
On Saturday, September 16th all participants and members of the public are invited to attend the Business Seminar "How to Market and Protect Your Creative Intellectual Property Assets" with WIPO presenter Christopher Kalanje.
The theme for CGCS 2006 is "Excellence through innovation, creativity and strategic linkages". In recent years many of our exhibitors (i.e. artisans and craft entrepreneurs) have expressed their concern regarding the need to protect, promote and export their creative works. In an attempt to effectively deal with these challenges, the sector recognises the intellectual property system as the best available mechanism to get a fair return on their investment in the marketplace and to boost their export opportunities and earnings to the Caribbean, North America and Europe.
~~Adz:Right~~The seminar will outline the main reasons why exporters must take intellectual property (IP) issues into account while planning their export strategy, and look into ways in which IP rights could enhance the competitiveness of the small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) in export markets.
By the time the show closes on Sunday, September 17th at 9.00pm some 5,000 members of the public would have visited the show where they would have also been entertained by the cultural presentations from groups in St. Kitts and Nevis and Curacao.
The Caribbean Gift and Craft Show 2006 is organised by the Caribbean Export Development Agency in partnership with the FirstCaribbean International Bank.
