SU-T1107 – Supporting Increased Local Content and Expansion of Priority Sectors – Business and Innovation Climate Reforms in Suriname (US$13,622) (2018-2021)

Counterpart: Former Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism (MTIT)

Objective: To create a stronger enabling business environment for the expansion of the poultry sector and increasing local content in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Results: Unfortunately, this project stalled, and of the US$200,000 earmarked ended up spending very little (more on that below). The project was designed and approved because the MTIT indicated that developing its small-scale poultry industry was a high priority, yet work on assessing feasibility and implementation that was contracted by the program could not be completed due to pre-election unrest, COVID related restrictions, and the change in the political administration post-election. CCPF engaged in dialogue with the FAO, which was likely to have more information on requirements for success of a small poultry industry (in general and specifically in Suriname) to assist with assessing feasibility and implementation risks.

In parallel, CCPF also initiated dialogue with other counterparts to assess whether the Government had other business environment reform priorities that are more viable. In the end, the project ended up supporting the Government of Suriname to improve the process of transferring real estate and therefore its ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business Indicator regarding Registering Property.

SU-T1149 – Leveraging Digital Technology to Improve the Business Environment in Suriname (US$180,000) (2022-ongoing)

Counterpart: Ministry of Economic Affairs, Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation (EZOTI)

Objective: To improve the effectiveness, efficiency and accessibility of processes for the application and renewal of business and professional certificates, licenses, and permits in Suriname.  More specifically the TC will: (i) reduce the average time taken to review and approve applications for business licenses and permits; and (ii) facilitate tracking of applications and provide opportunities to integrate and automate other related functions.

Results: The project conducted a process review of the business licensing function at the EZOTI, a review of the legislative framework, and developed a digital solution to automate business licensing. This system integrated eGov, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Health, the Department of Environment and the Spatial Planning Division to offer a digitalized solution for business registration. The project also facilitated change management workshops for the staff in the different ministries involved in operating the system. The resulting Digital Business License Platform was launched in November 2024 at an event attended by the President of Suriname – Suriname Launches Digital Business License Platform – Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility.

RG-T3519 – Experiential Learning of Cluster Development Best Practices in Small and Vulnerable Countries (US$114,633 for Suriname) (2019-2024)

Counterpart in Suriname: The Competitiveness Unit Suriname, with the North Commewijne cluster as a beneficiary

Objective: To enhance the capacity of Business Support Organisations (BSOs) in small and vulnerable Caribbean countries to function as effective Cluster Support Organisations (CSOs), by enabling them to apply the cluster methodology learnt over the past several months. This TC used an experiential learning approach to further embed (ie. institutionalize) international best practices in cluster development in Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname. This objective was directly in line with the overall focus of the second phase of the Compete Caribbean program – to ensure lasting change beyond its direct activities by piloting and transferring best-practices in private sector development to national entities. The objective of the Suriname North Commewijne component of this project was to to enhance, develop, and connect tourism assets in the North Commewijne “island”—and to unify and strengthen the cluster’s stakeholders and national partners behind a world-class tourist destination promotion campaign.

Results:

The project aimed to market North Commewijne Tourism area as a high value and high-quality tourism experience centered on the unique characteristics of the culture, nature, heritage, history of Asian and Indian selling points to penetrate the tourism market segments in the Netherlands and the Caribbean. A website, https://commewijne.travel/ was established for the cluster to improve the marketing of the cluster’s offerings through digital channels. In 2023 the project provided training to tour guides and MSMEs in in birding, nature, culture and heritage, business management, financial management, sales and marketing to build the capacity of the region to respond to the growing demand. Eighty 80 persons in total were trained, 23 tour guides (18M, 5W) and 57 MSMEs (31M, 29M). Three cluster members attended the Utrecht Travel Fair in Q1 2023 to promote the tourist activities and products of the North Commewijne region in the Netherlands. Since participating in the fair, the cluster has seen improvements in arrivals which has resulted in 15 additional jobs created. Promotional materials for two tourist attractions were developed into a tourism story product.

RG-T3677 – Design and Implementation of a Regional Ag-Tech Pilot Project for the Caribbean (US$159,652 disbursed for Suriname) (2020-2023)

Counterparts in Suriname: ParaLab and Green Borne

Objective: To improve the capacity of public and private sector actors to collaborate in the design and implementation of commercial Ag-Tech solutions (viable technologies and the associated business models) for contributing to the improvement of agriculture sector productivity in the Caribbean.

Results: The project completed a gender-sensitive ag-tech maturity assessment to gather evidence of the types of ag-tech solutions that are sustainable and valued by farmers, agro-processors and other stakeholders in the Caribbean. The report took a deep dive into three key value chains: Fruits and Vegetables, Sauces and Spices and Coffee and Cocoa. The report then assesses sector strategies within Jamaica, Grenada and Guyana while providing an Agritech adoption factor assessment with recommendations to foster Agritech adoption.

A Regional Ag-Tech challenge was designed and implemented. There were 7 online training sessions held for challenge participants on: Design Thinking, Business Model Canvas, Problem-solution fit, Solution-market fit, Pilot definition, Proposal presentation, Developing a pilot with Agile methodologies. A Scale Up Methodology Training was hosted for the Ag-Tech Challenge Winners. A workshop geared at regional stakeholders to build capacity for the development of future challenges was also hosted. The learning involved the transfer of the lessons learned during the Ag-Tech challenge for similar future projects, including the program scope, challenge definition, participation encouragement, incentive design, participant selection, and participant mentoring. Overall, 11 webinars were delivered, 361 private sector individuals were trained, and 6 pilot interventions were implemented.

In Suriname, this project provided technical assistance to the private sector companies Para Lab and Green Borne to further develop their ag-tech solutions.

Para Lab is an agri-food company with a local network of more than 250 farmers and companies, which specializes in the production of products derived from fruits. The project helped Para Lab develop the Paralab Platform, a customizable digital Agri management system in which farmers can process all the required information on production, scheduling and planning in the distribution of agricultural products, and that allows Para lab to secure and maintain ISO certification/ and improve traceability to meet Global GAP requirements, providing real time data that allows all cluster members to lower cost and increase efficiency. The digital platform includes a mobile app and push notifications to remind farmers of the actions to be taken on the farmland. Moreover, Para Lab made it a main goal to be the first fruit processing company to use only locally grown fruit and vegetables instead of imported pulp and fruit and other inputs. From the pilot intervention, the result showed that farmers found it easy to use the application and that it will help them in their operations to organize their Global Gap forms. With the management system in place, the farmers and the processor are now better prepared to identify, deal with and mitigate risks.

Green Borne is a Surinamese company that sought to provide drone services that could supply foliar fertilizer to the small and medium scale agricultural producer community. Through the pilot, Green Borne proved that there was a need for a reliable and continuous spraying or seeding service by farmers that will eliminate the need for hiring unreliable workers and determined the reduction of total spraying time and labor that such a service offered. New products/ processes which came about as a result of this project include: -A new line of 16 liter agricultural drones with smart batteries -The launch of a drone Lease Plan which directed drone sales to customers with training which enables trained drone operators to leverage drones for their spraying business and eliminates the need for significant upfront investment.

RG-T4003 – Technology Extension Services (TES) in the Caribbean Blue Economy and Essential Services Sectors (US$30,000 for Suriname) (2021-ongoing)

Objective: To support firms in the blue economy and essential services sectors in the acceleration of technological diffusion, adoption, and upgrading, thus providing support to the Caribbean in diversifying the blue economy and strengthening the delivery of goods and services in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: This project delivered technology extension services to a group of businesses in every country. In addition, the project implemented a supplementary capacity building plan for a sub-group of women-owned businesses with growth potential.

Beneficiaries from Suriname:

1. Erna’s Garden
2. Kinderuniversiteit Suriname
3. Tan Bun Skrati