Compete Caribbean invites eligible entrepreneurs, companies

Caribbean Idea Marketplace (CIM) is a business competition platform that encourages local and diaspora entrepreneurs to forge partnerships around innovative projects that will generate employment and economic opportunities in the Caribbean region. CIM also seeks to promote entrepreneurship, transfer knowledge and create learning networks. The programme was launched on March 1, and will continue until May 31, 2012, which is the deadline for submission of applications.

Entrepreneurs and companies are invited to submit promising and innovative business ideas that also meet the following eligibility criteria:

1. There must be a partnership between a local and a Caribbean diaspora entrepreneur or business owner;

2. The business to be developed must be legally registered, or intended to be established in any of the 15 eligible CARIFORUM countries;

3. The diaspora partner must be a citizen or legal resident of the USA, Canada and UK, and demonstrate a relevant connection or experience in the Caribbean;

4. Projects must have export potential, encourage employment, be environmentally sound and gender inclusive.

For detailed eligibility requirements, the application form and a host of other valuable information about CIM, please visit: www.caribbeanidea.org or www.competecaribbean.org. Interested individuals are also invited to visit Compete Caribbean on Facebook: www.facebook.com/competecaribbean for programme updates and to discuss CIM as well as Compete Caribbean’s other grant funding programmes.

CIM is being managed and implemented by Compete Caribbean, a programme that provides technical assistance grants and investment funding to support private sector development in the Caribbean region. Compete Caribbean is jointly funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The Programme supports projects in 15 Caribbean countries and works in partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDC) in the OECS.

Other CIM partners include the US Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnership, Digicel, Scotiabank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

About Compete Caribbean

Compete Caribbean is a private sector development programme that provides technical assistance grants and investment funding to support productive development policies, business climate reforms, clustering initiatives and Small and Medium Size Enterprise (SME) development activities in the Caribbean region. The programme, jointly funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Kingdom Department of International Development (DFID) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), supports projects in 15 Caribbean countries.

The programme’s estimated value is US$40.0 million, of which DFID and CIDA contributed US$32.55 million. Projects in the OECS countries are implemented in partnership with the Caribbean Development Bank.

For more information on Compete Caribbean, please visit the website: www.competecaribbean.org.