Development of trade facilitation and trade information portal for The Bahamas

In November 2016, the International Trade Centre ITC asked Globally Cool to develop a trade information portal for the Bahamas in an effort to diversify exports of the Bahamas. Together with the Bahamas Ministry of Financial Services and Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation we quickly got to work!

Products

crafts, organic tea, seafood and natural ingredients for cosmetics

Year

2016 – 2020

Country

Bahamas

Type of activity

  • Capacity Building
  • Market Intelligence
  • Trade Intelligence Portals

Year

2016 – 2020

Country

Bahamas

Type of activity

  • Capacity Building
  • Market Intelligence
  • Trade Intelligence Portals
The Trade Information Portal serves as a one-stop-shop supporting Bahamian businessman in growing sustainable exports. Also, it contributes to widening the export basket of the country by disseminating opportunities on non-traditional products such as crafts, organic tea, seafood, and natural ingredients for cosmetics. Over a period of 4 months, we traveled to the Bahamas 4 times to support the stakeholders and to develop the Trade Information Portal.

Activities

Globally Cool was the lead consultant in developing and sustainably handing over the trade facilitation and information portal to the Bahamian team. Among the key activities were:
  • Facilitating stakeholder meetings with producers and exporters as well as the enabling environment (public & private), as part of a needs assessment into the delivery of trade facilitation and market intelligence services in The Bahamas.
  • Project design and intervention plan.
  • Training in providing added value market information on potential markets, untapped potential and opportunities for non-traditional export products.
  • Coaching in providing relevant information to exporters on standards, requirements and certification schemes in international markets.
  • Coaching in enhanced and simplified dissemination of the information through e.g. downloadable one-pagers and video animations via YouTube.
  • Developing and handing over the portal, including user guides and manuals, video tutorials.
  • Coaching in maintaining and sustaining the portal and its market information.
  • Training in monitoring and evaluating the performance of the online information service.
  • Coaching in developing and implementing promotion strategies and campaigns including printed materials, online promotion and social media campaigns.
  • Providing technical assistance in back-end management after the launch.
  • Training the portal manager in social media management and e-mail marketing (newsletter campaigns).

Results

As a result of the project, the new information services are developed in-house and are disseminated through www.bahamastradeinfo.gov.bs. The following information is available:
  • Enhanced Market Intelligence portfolio: raising awareness among businessmen on opportunities and new markets for existing and new exportable products.
  • International market access requirements: market access conditions like customs tariffs, non-tariff measures, rules of origin, technical requirements, standards and management systems to comply with to access international markets like the USA or Europe.
  • Export procedures for high priority non-traditional export products
  • Optimised Market Intelligence service to inform foreign importers on sourcing products or services in The Bahamas.
  • Connecting to partners and tools such as ITC Sustainability Map and CBI’s Market Intel database on EU markets and standards.
  • Empowering micro, small & medium-sized businessmen in sustainably getting involved in exporting, by providing strategic information on best markets, competitor performance, and quality requirements in a very practical format (one-pagers and multimedia videos in YouTube).
  • Grooming (prospective) exporters through the Exporter Toolkit; resources/manuals on the basics of exporting, e-learning platforms, export financing, logistic providers, trade guides, e-commerce, finding buyers, trade fair participation, and more.
As the ministry acknowledged the necessity of diversification in the economy and stimulating global trade, investing in this new trade portal was an absolute success. During the launch of the Bahamas Trade Portal, the Bahamian national press made a cool news item (source: ZNS Network).
Mr Martin Lopez, ITC project manager was quoted in the Tribune 242 paper: “This will be a groundbreaking resource for The Bahamas, something that will make The Bahamas one of the forerunners in terms of business development and business support to companies interested in export.”