The Dominica Export Import Agency (DEXIA) in collaboration with the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility (CCPF) will from Monday March 11th host a week-long cluster development training for Business Support Organisations (BSOs) at the Agency’s Roseau office.
This training will enable participants to improve the quality of Cluster Development Plans (CDPs) and their potential to impact on employment creation and revenue generation among vulnerable groups. These CDPs will be reviewed in the 2nd and last quarters of 2019 by two Investment Panels. The CDPs that are deemed suitable for funding will receive up to a maximum of US$300,000.00 in grants DEXIA has submitted CDPs for the coconut and cocoa clusters and hopes the information gleaned in the training will help the Agency improve on its proposal and chances of securing the grant funds.
Head of DEXIA’s Export Promotion and Development Department, Lloyd Pascal is looking forward to the spillover effects of the training activity, “ This Capacity Building Training workshop opens up the door to many opportunities for growth within productive sectors and industries in Dominica such as Cocoa, Cassava, Craft, Music to name a few. Furthermore it sets a strong platform from which DEXIA can now offer enhanced services in Cluster Development to its current and potential list of clients”.
Competitiveness, a world-class consulting firm, will facilitate the classroom-style sessions through a learning-by-doing approach. The training is in the area of capacity building and applied research in cluster development best practices and will feature a total of three integrated modules covering eight knowledge areas. At the end of the course, participants will be better equipped to understand how to identify promising cluster initiatives in their own country using a market driven approach, identify and coordinate cluster stakeholders to facilitate the completion of CDPs eligible for funding by Compete Caribbean or other agencies and mobilise key stakeholders to secure leadership from the private sector and strategic support from government and non-government organisations.
The training programme is based on the syllabus and methodology developed under the European Cluster Excellence Initiative (ECEI) and includes cases from Harvard, INSEAD and IESE Business Schools and RegX University of Southern Denmark. It also includes cases developed by the World Bank (WB) and The Cluster Competitiveness Group.
The workshop, which takes place at the DEXIA Conference room from Monday 11th to Friday 15th March, includes participants representing organisations such as the Bureau of Standards, Ministry of Trade, National Development Foundation of Dominica (NDFD), GEF Small Grants, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC) among others.
There will be two additional 5-day sessions in April and May, modules two and three, respectively. All participants who have 80% attendance in all three trainings will receive an international certificate from the European Foundation for Cluster Excellence.
The training will run concurrently in seven Caribbean countries- Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana Jamaica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent.
