Bridgetown, BARBADOS, January 23, 2015 -- The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) grant funding team were in St. Kitts and Nevis this week following the award of €116,000 to four firms via the Direct Assistance Grant Scheme (DAGS), as part of the Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP) funded by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF).
The team spent two days delivering reimbursement training to the four successful grant awardees, namely: bottling manufacturers Victory Packaging Limited, transportation logistics services company Hobson Enterprises, the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Oualie Beach Enterprises Ltd, founders of the 32 room Green Globe Certified Oulie Beach Resort.
Since 2011, within the framework of the the 10th EDF, the Agency has issued two Calls for Proposals (CfPs) and this latest set of grants brings the total awarded to firms from St. Kitts and Nevis to some €152,000.
The objective of the Scheme is to access new markets, in particular to capitalise on the benefits of the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), CARICOM Single Market Economy (CSME), CARICOM-DR Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or any other bilateral or multilateral arrangements signed within the region or with African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) or European Union (EU) partners. The DAGS also fosters intra-regional cooperation to enhance productivity and capitalise on economies of scale; and promote programmes, which will impact on under-developed areas or disadvantage sectors within the region.
Caribbean Exports’ Executive Director, Mrs. Pamela Coke-Hamilton expressed her pleasure in seeing firms from sectors that are considered key priority sectors for the region take advantage of the funding available to them. She was especially pleased to see an increase in applications from St. Kitts and Nevis, and other members of the OECS to the grant facility.
To date, Caribbean Export has awarded 479 SMEs and BSOs across the region via direct assistance grants totalling €8,474,212.07. These figures represent the Call for Proposals (CFPs) during the 9th European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean Trade and Private Sector Development Programme (CTPSDP: 2008-2010), and the 10th EDF Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP: 2011-2014).
The DAGS is a reimbursement grant funding facility specifically designed to provide financial assistance to legally registered small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), individuals, and business support organisations (BSOs) with the potential to export their products and services.
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