LAST CHANCE TO APPLY!
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THE ECONOMICS OF INNOVATION COURSE?
WE HAVE EXTENDED THE DEADLINE – SUBMIT YOUR CV & MOTIVATIONAL LETTER BY JUNE 1ST.
DON'T FORGET TO REGISTER!!
JOIN US! MAY 26TH, 11AM AST
We are pleased to invite you to the Belize Seaweed Webinar series 2023 hosted by:
The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) and Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF).
Webinar #1 will explore Best Practices in Sustainable Seaweed Production, with insights from:
Mr. Seleem Chan, Mariculture Specialist & Safety Officer at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and Dr. Flower Msuya, Chairperson at the Zanzibar Seaweed Cluster Initiative (ZaSCI).
GRANTS & OPPORTUNITIES
ENROLL TODAY!! FREE COURSE:
Do you know what your leadership style is? Would you like to develop or strengthen leadership skills with a gender perspective?
(10 WEEKS – SELF PACED (1-2HR/WEEK) | FREE OPTIONAL UPGRADE AVAILABLE)
PRODUCTIVE SECTORS & VALUE CHAINS - US$250,000 GRANT
Pillar 2: Public-Private dialogue – Eliminating obstacles in productive sectors and value
DEADLINE – MAY 31ST
MARKET NICHES - US$275,000 GRANT
Pillar 3: Market niches – Unlocking strategic investments in new technologies and green transformative agendas
DEADLINE: JUNE 10TH
New Search Launched For Pioneering Projects Protecting Coastal Communities
Projects invited to apply for up to USD$500,000 to scale finance and insurance products.
UK Blue Planet Fund financed Call for Proposals is part of the UK’s commitment to drive investment into coastal and ocean natural capital.
Call for Proposals closes on Sunday 2 July 2023
Call for Research Proposals - US$20,000
The IDB Group’s Gender and Diversity Knowledge Initiative (GDLab) seeks to advance knowledge development regarding the existing inequalities between men and women, as well as inequalities faced by Indigenous Peoples, people of African descent, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people through promoting competitive research calls.
The fourth edition of this call focuses on the topic of climate change and its nexus with gender and diversity.
The deadline to submit a proposal is June 14, 2023.
Don't Miss Out on This Unique Opportunity to Grow your Portfolio of Clients, Suppliers, and Partners.
Are you an entrepreneur in the global digital services industry?
Participate in #Outsource2LAC on June 14-15 in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and join over 400 service companies from 40 countries.
Connect with leading companies from #LatinAmerica and the #Caribbean, Asia, Europe, and North America and discover new international business opportunities through B2B and B2G matchmaking meetings.
COMPETE CARIBBEAN IN THE NEWS
IDB Report Finds Caribbean Businesses Need More Innovation and Productivity
Reflections on Innovation and Productivity as Caribbean Businesses Emerge from the Pandemic addressed the question of whether the Caribbean would return to the slow long-run growth of the pre-pandemic period. To answer it, the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility, a multi-donor, private-sector development program financed by the IDB, the governments of the United Kingdom and Canada, and the Caribbean Development Bank, collected business-level data from nearly 2,000 firms across 13 Caribbean countries.
COMPETE CARIBBEAN MISSIONS
Take a look at the videos from our Missions to Andros Island Bahamas and Grenada, recently completed.
The Hon. A Thomas & CCPF Donors visit the GNExTT Facility - Gouyave Grenada
CCPF & CTO - MISSION TO ANDROS ISLAND - BAHAMAS 2023
COMPETE CARIBBEAN RECEIVES SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD!
Compete Caribbean has been recognized for its critical support to the development of the Global Services Industry in Jamaica. The organization was acknowledged for its efforts during an awards ceremony, where Tariq Alli, General Manager – Country Department Caribbean Group and Country Representative in Jamaica (IDB), received an award from the Global Sector Association of Jamaica for Compete Caribbean’s work.
This award is testament to the longstanding relationship and support that the Program has provided to global service industry stakeholders in Jamaica, especially during its embryonic stage. Compete’s support to the industry began formally in 2014 with the signing of a grant agreement, with the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ). This technical assistance facilitated the establishment of a call center incubator in the Montego Bay Free Zone to lend support to the start-up operations of newly established ICT/BPO entities, expand the activities of existing organizations and build the skills of Jamaicans seeking employment within the space.
This initial support quickly scaled and allowed the industry to diversify and move up the value chain in the range of services offered; with the cluster reporting approximately 4,500 full-time jobs being created at that time; and a significant boost in the number of international markets serviced,
including the United Kingdom, Australia and the Philippines.
After securing a second grant via CCPF’s Clustering and Value Chains Facility, the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica rebranded itself as the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ), and with Compete Caribbean’s technical assistance launched The Scale Up: SME Assistance Programme on November 19, 2019, to support small and medium-sized outsourcing companies in Jamaica to upgrade into knowledge processing services. Out of the 15 SMEs who pitched their ideas to a panel of judges, 10 were selected to receive customized roadmaps, technical assistance, mentoring, and grant funding of up to USD10,000 to encourage internationalization and marketability.
In addition, the technical cooperation initiative facilitated the development of a Positioning Paper for the Global Services Sector of Jamaica, which provided a clear vision of the prospects available to GSS firms as they sought to transition to provide more value-added services. This paper is credited with steering the strong comeback that was observed during the industry’s rebound from the COVID 19 pandemic, including providing guidance to industry stakeholders to hire nearly 2000 new workers aligned to providing more value-added services.
Moreover, during the pandemic, the technical cooperation provided support for even more impactful activities, including the hosting of the Outsurce2Jamaica Conference 2021, which brought together approximately 1,300 persons from sixteen countries.
In June 2022, the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) reported that approximately 52,000 persons were employed in the sector, an increase indirectly attributable to the technical cooperation that was the springboard for various activities under the Global Services Sector (GSS) Skills Development Programme (JA-L079).
The Compete Caribbean Program is thankful to the people and Government of Jamaica for this recognition and believes that the success of the technical cooperation is reflected in the continued resilience of the SMEs and the GSS.
Learn more about the results of this cluster and our technical assistance.
