If you do business in the Caribbean, or are thinking of doing so, here’s a collection of business-related sites to keep your cash flowing and your bottom line bouncing.
Caribbean Home Page: Banking and Finance
(http://www.caribinfo.com/banking.html)
Anyone planning to do business in the islands will want to bookmark this fabulous one-stop-shop of links to banking and financial resources across the Caribbean. One click of the mouse lets you choose from hundreds of banks, credit card companies, financial services, trade organisations, venture capital groups, on-line business calculators, offshore account providers, financial sector adjustment companies, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank Group, even the IMF.
Barclays In the Caribbean
(http://www.caribbean.barclays.co.uk/)
Need an offshore banker? Barclays offers offshore and international banking services from five centres in the Caribbean: the Bahamas, Barbados, the Caymans, the British Virgin Islands, and the Turks & Caicos Islands. Check this site for more information on their extensive range of banking products and services, including international mortgages, expatriate services, and a personal account application.
Caribbean Association of Women Entrepreneurs
(http://www.cawe-caribbean.com/)
As Denyse Plummer and Boogsie Sharpe said, woman is boss. CAWE is a non-profit, non-political organisation dedicated to the advancement of businesswomen in the global marketplace, through the creation of a regional network of support and advancement opportunities. Take a look at its on-line business development section, or click on to a set of links, newsletters, and listings of upcoming events. The site was having a few technical problems when we logged on, but hopefully all the bugs will be swatted by the time you visit.
St. Lucia On-line Business Guide
(http://www.stluciabusiness.com/)
Whether you’re looking for a transmission for a 1988 Nissan Sunny (price negotiable), a listing of public utility companies, or a guide to local banking and financial resources, this multi-faceted site means business. Information for investors include Six Reasons to Move Your Business to St Lucia, investment incentives, detailed instructions for obtaining trade licenses, even labour and wage rates. The site includes several reports on industrial infrastructure as well.
Caribbean Career & Business
(http://www.caribbeancity.com/homepage/index.htm)
This particular page of the CaribbeanCity site provides career and business advice customized for the region’s unique demands and opportunities. Investors will find an island-by-island listing of Caribbean stock exchanges and money markets of special interest, along with an archive of business-related articles.
Trinidad and Tobago: Business Center of the Caribbean
(http://www.conway.com/trinidad/9907/index.htm)
It’s no secret that the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, long known as “the godfather of the Caribbean”, is probably the most successful economy in the islands. This highly developed site, an enthusiastic celebration of investment opportunities in T&T, is illustrated with lots of pretty pictures and includes links to Trinidadian energy companies, banking and financial services, accounting resources, electronics manufacturers, and lots more.
Caribbean Information for Research and Business
(http://www.antiguanet.net/caribinfo/)
Need business information on the Caribbean but lack contacts in the region? Carib Info specialises in supplying trade information, economic statistics, agricultural information, business data, market research and tourism information, especially for the smaller islands of the English-speaking Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Caribbean Business Services Limited
(http://www.cbser.com/)
Billing itself as “an effective ally for small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises,” the CBSL (based in Trinidad and Tobago) provides shop floor management, product development and market strategies for entrepreneurs setting up a business, or existing companies seeking to restructure, diversify, privatize or expand their operations. Services include start-up assistance, export assessment and access, search for European or Caribbean partners, product diversification and feasibility assessments. Although CBSL generally focuses on companies with turnover/investment between TT $2 million and $50 million, it is willing to assist any company with satisfactory management capability and growth potential.
The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association
(http://www.lacea.org/)
LACEA (also known as Asociación de Economia de América Latina y El Caribe) was founded in 1992 in order to facilitate an exchange of ideas among economists and policy-makers specialising in the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. This is a good site to check for research opportunities, visiting scholars’ programmes, listings of meetings and conferences, even a summer camp in international finance.
Have you found any useful Caribbean websites you’d like to share with readers? Write to Michael Goodwin c/o Caribbean Beat
