A LEADING CARIBBEAN manufacturer with Barbados connections is keen on doing more business here.
And its interest has a lot to do with Barbados’ focus on energy efficiency and its quest to become a green economy.
Trinidad and Tobago-based Electrical Industries Group (EIG), which produces electrical cables, lighting fixtures, power solutions, plastics for construction and packaging material, owns Barbados-based Century Eslon.
Speaking in an interview with BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY during a recent visit here, Sherard Chablal product specialist in EIG’s lighting division, said by the end of the year the group hoped to significantly boost its sales.
They are aiming to do so partly through the line of Agos LED lighting line that Chablal introduced to customers and financial institutions two weeks ago.
“The Barbados market is very critical for us, it has always been a good strategic point for us to sell our products. It makes us roughly around ten per cent of our revenue for our exports so it’s a big market, it’s an important for us in Electrical Industries Group,” he said.
“Our goal is to probably increase sales in Barbados by 50 per cent during the next six months, so we are going to go aggressively at the Barbados market.”
In the region, EIG currently exports to Barbados, Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis, Grenada, Jamaica, Belize and Guyana and is “exploring” entering the Montserrat market. However, as far as lighting goes, that division sells 70 per cent of its product in the United States.
Chablal said the plan to boost sales of lighting and other products to Barbados and elsewhere in the region was driven by the company’s desire to not just survive but thrive amid the current economic hard times.
“Like with any other company it has been difficult. We have been seeing decreasing sales in all markets but in these times we like to look for opportunities and we are looking in all our markets for opportunities to sell other products, hence the reason why we are expanding the LED product range to sell products that we never use to sell before,” he explained.
“This is where we are seeing growth in the region, we can actually see growth in the regional markets through LED lighting products.”
Chablal was confident the company, especially the Agos LED lighting range, would do well in Barbados, given the island’s focus on green energy.
“LED hands down is the future of lighting. We are seeing that LED is actually gaining more ground in the past two years than it has in the past five years. A lot of people are getting educated on the advantages of using LED,” he said.
“It’s much lower energy costs, up to 60 per cent lower energy costs than conventional lighting, as well as some other benefits such as cost savings on cables and wires because you actually consume less power so you can actually save on cabling and wiring. Energy efficiency is always the biggest factor and cost savings in terms of products.” (SC)
