Suriname – located in the north-eastern coast of South America, is one of the fifteen countries that make up CARIFORUM and has been the location for our executive team this week.

Our Executive Director, Deodat Maharaj together with Damie Sinanan, Manager for Competitiveness and Export Promotion held high-level meetings with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business & International Cooperation – Min. Albert Ramchand Ramdin; the Min. of Finance and Planning – Armand Achibersing and the Minister of Economic Affairs, Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation – Min. Saskia Walden (MBA, CFE) to present the new strategic direction of the Agency and build relations to support private sector development in Suriname.

Caribbean Export, with funding from the European Union has been providing support to Suriname.   Since 2017, some 187 people from Suriname have participated in Caribbean Export activities and over US$147K has been awarded to businesses via our various grant programmes so far.  As we look to build business, transform lives for a stronger Caribbean, investment is a critical requirement to realise our vision.  As such, the facilitation of a Suriname Virtual Investment Summit has been proposed and may well be on the cards soon.

Dr Sinanan also met with several stakeholders on the ground including De Associatie van Surinaamse Fabrikanten (ASFA), Vereniging Surinaams Bedrijfsleven (VSB) and the Suriname Business Development Center in an effort to expand the reach of our interventions with more Surinamese firms in the future.

Caribbean Export continues to work assiduously to strengthen our relationships with key stakeholders and foster new partnerships that can expand our portfolio of services to support private sector development, the transformation of our economies and the creation of jobs for our people.