Business View Caribbean - Nov 2014 63
clude optimizing the Caribbean region’s export poten-
tial through facilitating innovation and the creation of
world-class brands.
It was created in 1996 by an intergovernmental agree-
ment of the members of the Caribbean Group of Af-
rican, Caribbean and Pacific States and provides ex-
port development and investment promotion services
through program execution and strategic partnerships.
Additionally, Tijule was approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration to export ackees in 2002, and it
implements hazard and critical control point (HACCP)
quality systems for other products with the assistance
of the Center for Development in Industry – which sup-
ports the creation, expansion, diversification, reha-
bilitation and privatization of industrial enterprises in
African, Caribbean and Pacific counties through identi-
fication of projects and potential partners, operations
prior to implementation of a project, financial and le-
gal structuring of a project and project start-up and
development.
Objectives going forward, Roy Newell said, include in-
vestment in marketing and intellectual property, an im-
proved penetration strategy for U.S. markets and entry
into more Canadian markets. Also planned is an up-
grade of the internal machine line that labels products
and the stabilizing of production costs by using more
automated and less labor-intensive processes.
“We’re focused on gaining a fair share of the multi-mil-
lion dollar North American market,” he said. “We want
to establish our brands in selected European coun-
tries and we’re looking into the possibility of locating a
processing plant in an African country.”
JAMAICA
