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

AGENDA Regional Workshop “Promoting and Improving SME Competitiveness and Productivity in the Caribbean” 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 Context Expected results Agenda 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 2122, 2010, with the participation of authorities heading the portfolios of SMEs and innovation, international experts and representatives from academia and the private sector It is also a follow up to the hemispheric meeting organized in Orlando, Florida on September 14-15, 2009 on “Promoting Entrepreneurship and SME Competitiveness using Best Practices: Government, Business and Academia Partnerships.” The participants in the Regional Workshop will have the opportunity to participate in the Annual ASBDC Conference, and to network with those attending, including directors and instructors of SME support institutions in the United States and Latin America, SME owners, managers and representatives, among others The Regional Workshop will also feature new online tools such as SBDCGlobal.com –a powerful and free online trade platform linking the 750,000+ clients of the U.S., Mexican and Colombian Small Business Development Center (SBDC) networks for international trade opportunities Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) 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/ 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 AGENDA 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 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 Robert McKinley, Associate VP, Institute for Economic Development; University of Texas at San Antonio Mario Cerna Torres, Vice Minister of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Economy, El Salvador and Ileana Rogel, Directora Ejecutiva, CONAMYPE Ingrid Figueroa, Executive Director, CENPROMYPE 1:00-2:30 pm Lunch 2:30-3.45 SME Program: Best Practice Panel –Chile, Mexico, and Others Topic: to provide participants with an overview of Chile SME assistance model, the Mexican SBDC model as well as present the experience of a Caribbean government official trained on the basic elements of the model Moderator: Theresa Wetter, OAS Department of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism 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 Second day: Wednesday, September 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 ... on the sharing of best practices, definition of next steps in improving SME competitiveness and strengthening SME support institutions in the Caribbean AGENDA Regional Workshop “Promoting and Improving. .. 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... 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