Local businesses urged to tap into export markets

Local entrepreneurs are being encouraged to increase their businesses’ export potential to take advantage of increasingly lucrative markets within the region and beyond.

The advice came from chief executive officer of BIDC (Export Barbados) Mark Hill, during Monday’s debate on the Appropriation Bill, 2022, in the House of Assembly.

He noted that more small businesses have popped up over the past two years because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, but these small-scale ventures have yet to fully realise the great possibilities outside Barbados that has a market of 300,000 persons maximum.

“COVID has shown us that our baseload capacity within that market space is about US$4 billion. If we are going to grow an economy, our entrepreneurs and enterprises must have an export-oriented mindset, it’s critical,” Hill explained.

He stressed further that though many local entrepreneurs have been successful here, with their products consistently in demand, the scope of overseas markets continues to be an untapped reserve for businesses, given the numerous agreements Barbados has with several countries and trade organisations.

“We can either produce what I call triathlons – so people who can run, ride, and swim, which is very expensive to do in terms of the investment in producing that type of entrepreneur – or we can focus on producing good riders, which are local entrepreneurs who can get around the island and generate as much revenue as they can within the 300,000 market… or we can produce swimmers that can go beyond the shores of Barbados and reach into the region, reach into the globe, explore the 52 bilateral agreements that this country has with all the other nations around the world,” Hill said.

“Our 52 bilateral agreements gives us access to over $500 billion in market, so we really want to orient our entrepreneurs that there is more opportunity beyond the shores of Barbados.”

Hill emphasised that the island’s private sector has an important role to play in increasing the level of exports Barbados can produce, and with $300 million earned in exports, compared to $3 billion being spent on imports, businesses have an opportunity to close that trade imbalance while maximizing profits.

“Our private sector has a habit of focusing only on imports…. When we talk about entrepreneurship, much of that discussion is about cultivating importers. Those importers tap our reserves and sometimes consume $3 billion in imports, but only $300 million went out [last year]. So less than 10 per cent of what we are spending on importing is being spent on the type of businesses that export.

“We have to narrow that gap, and to narrow that gap we have to really encourage every entrepreneur, regardless of the size of their business, that they can be exporters,” Hill said. (SB)