THE BARBADOS INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (BIDC) is concerned about Barbados’ failure to grow exports under the CARICOM free trade agreement and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union.
Merchandise trade between Barbados and its CARICOM free trade agreement partners accounts for less than two per cent of total Barbadian trade while exports under the EPA have not shown significant expansion.
BIDC export development and promotion director Sonja Trotman said companies have traditionally been hesitant to export to new markets with different trading requirements within the region.
“In the case of trade with Latin America, there is the issue of language which persons may find difficult to work around. Then we have found that there are some companies operating quite comfortably within the region and not seeing the need to go after new markets,” she said.
In the BIDC’s July to September 2012 Barbados Business Catalyst magazine, she said the organization was working at implementing initiatives that could result in some export growth.
Noting that non-tariff barriers could work against imports into a country, Trotman said exporters must be willing to address these matters as they arise and modify procedures and products in response to market demands.
She added that Barbados’ failure to penetrate new markets may also relate to a lack of effort on the part of both the public and private sectors.
She said several producers did not see going after new markets as their role.
“While BIDC may be able to suggest and indicate areas of interest and new markets, it becomes then an issue of funding – not just funding to do market research but also financing for product research and development.
“Truth be told, in most instances the funding is just not there to support product development and export marketing for companies in the SME sector,” she said.
Trotman noted that even with the BIDC’s promotional activities, there was not a lot one could achieve unless companies had the capacity to supply markets.
Although there is a school of thought that says efforts should be targeted to help smaller companies export, the director noted that they often cannot satisfy demand.
“As a Government trade-promotion agency, therefore, we must find the right mix where the large companies with the capacity to change the trade statistics are assisted as well as the smaller ones,” she said. (NB)
