Regional Workshop “Promoting and Improving SME Competitiveness and Productivity in the Caribbean”

Regional Workshop “Promoting and Improving SME Competitiveness and Productivity in the Caribbean” Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Meeting Room: Manchester A September 6-7, 2011 San Dieg

September 6-7, 2011 Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, California

Department of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism

Executive Secretariat for Integral Development General Secretariat of the Organization of American States

Organized with the financial support of the U.S Government

through the U.S Mission to the OAS

Regional Workshop

“Promoting and Improving SME Competitiveness and

Productivity in the Caribbean”

Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Meeting Room: Manchester A September 6-7, 2011 San Diego, California

1 Context

2 Expected results

3 Agenda

1 CONTEXT

The Regional Workshop “Promoting and Improving SME Competitiveness and Productivity in the Caribbean” is organized by the Department of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism of the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), in cooperation with the United States Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) and the Regional SBDC of the University of Texas at San Antonio, with funding from the U.S Government through the U.S Mission to the OAS It

is being held in the framework of the Annual Conference of the ASBDC, which brings together over 1,800 representatives from the Small Business Development Centers of the United States, as well as representatives from SME support institutions from Latin American countries such as Chile, El Salvador, and Mexico

The objective of the Regional Workshop is to strengthen the capacity of the institutions that support, assist and train SMEs in the Caribbean through the sharing of best practices and success stories on international trade and innovation in the United States and Latin America, with a view to improving SME competitiveness and productivity in the Caribbean and assist small businesses to remain competitive in the complex market place of an ever-changing global economy

This workshop builds on last year’s Regional Workshop on "Innovation and ICT for the Productivity of Small and Medium Enterprises” in Central America, organized in cooperation with the ASBDC and which was held in San Antonio, Texas on September

21-22, 2010, with the participation of authorities heading the portfolios of SMEs and innovation, international experts and representatives from academia and the private

The United States Small Business Development Centers, which are financed in partnership with the Small Business Administration (SBA), are often located in highly renowned universities, “colleges” and economic development agencies Currently the 1,100 SME support centers provide management and technical assistance to more than one million small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs each year These small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs can go to their local SBDCs for face-to-face business consulting and at-cost training on writing business plans, accessing capital, marketing, regulatory compliance, international trade and more SBDCs helped in-depth clients obtain an estimated $3 billion in financing in 2009 Every $1 spent on the SBDC network enabled small businesses to access $14.19 in new capital In FY 2010, 43% of SBDC

business consulting clients in the U.S were women and 33% were minorities, whereas 43% of SBDC training clients were women and 22% were minorities For more

information about the ASBDC, please visit: http://www.asbdc-us.org/

2 EXPECTED RESULTS: THE MAIN DELIVERABLES

• Generating awareness and support for the Small Business Development Center model in the Caribbean as a means to promote regional SME integration, job creation and economic competitiveness

• Guiding and promoting the dialogue on public policies supporting international trade and innovation to improve SME competitiveness and productivity in the Caribbean

• Sharing of best practices on promoting and improving SME competitiveness and productivity in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean with a special emphasis on the adaptation of the SBDC model in Mexico and El Salvador

• Improved horizontal cooperation to assist SMEs in the Caribbean

• Based on the sharing of best practices, definition of next steps in improving SME competitiveness and strengthening SME support institutions in the Caribbean

3 AGENDA

3

Regional Workshop

“Promoting and Improving SME Competitiveness and

Productivity in the Caribbean”

Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego Meeting Room: Manchester A September 6-7, 2011 San Diego, California

First day: Tuesday, September 6

8:00-8.30 Registration

8:30-9.00 Welcoming Remarks

• Jorge Saggiante, Acting Executive Secretary for Integral Development, General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS)

• Charles “Tee” Rowe, President and CEO, Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC)

• Christopher McNair, Manager Competitiveness and Innovation, Caribbean Export

• Carla Menéndez McManus, Alternative Representative, U.S Mission

to the OAS

9:00-10.30 Caribbean SME Program Roundtable

Topic: Caribbean countries present current SME program activities and successes

Moderator: Kirk Brown, Senior Advisor Direct Assistance Grant Scheme, Caribbean Export

10:30-11.00 Coffee Break

11:00-12.45 SME Program: Best Practice Panel – U.S., El Salvador and Central

America

Topic: to provide participants with an overview of the U.S SBDC model, the CDMYPE network of El Salvador, and the expansion of the SBDC model in Central America

Moderator: Al Salgado, Chairman, ASBDC

José Luis Uriarte, General Manager, SERCOTEC, Chile Eduardo Gasca Pliego, Rector, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Mexico

Francine Blackman, Government of Barbados

3:45-4.00 Coffee Break

4:00-5.30 SME International Trade and Competitiveness Panel: The U.S National

Export Initiative

Topic: overview of the efforts in the U.S to grow SME trade capacity via the National Export Initiative

Moderator: Maryse Robert, Chief, Office of Trade, OAS Department of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism

Christina Sevilla, Deputy Assistant U.S Trade Representative for Small Business, Market Access and Industrial Competitiveness

Luz Hopewell, Director, Office of International Trade; Small Business Administration

Cliff Paredes, Director, International Trade Center SBDC, University of Texas at San Antonio

5:30 Question & Answer Session

5

Second day: Wednesday, September 7

9:00-10.00 Dialogue – Improving Caribbean SME Competitiveness and Productivity

& Regional Linkages

Topic: provide workshop participants with an opportunity to provide feedback on the previous days presentations per the Caribbean political and economic context and assess the feasibility of the SBDC model implementation in the Caribbean

Moderator: Dr Lawrence Nicholson, University of the West Indies,

Mona Campus, Jamaica

10:00-10.15 Coffee Break

10:15-11.30 Next Steps in Building Caribbean SME Competitiveness

Topic: develop next steps and action items that will improve SME competitiveness in the Caribbean

Moderator: Christopher McNair, Manager Competitiveness and Innovation, Caribbean Export

11:30-12.00 Closing Ceremony

12:00-1:45 Lunch & Conference Opening Ceremony – U.S Association of SBDCs

Annual Conference 1:45-4:15 ASBDC Annual Conference

4:15-5:15 SME International Trade and Competitiveness in the U.S and the

Americas: Reception offered by the Association of Small Business Development Centers

Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego • Manchester Foyer Second Level

September 8-9

ASBDC Annual Conference