WASHINGTON, CMC—The Inter-American Growth Financial institution (IDB) says that whereas most Caribbean companies are both progressive or doubtlessly progressive, they nonetheless face challenges.
Nevertheless, a brand new IDB report, which delves into the crucial function of innovation in driving financial progress and productiveness within the Caribbean area, famous that progressive companies within the Caribbean have 26 to 35 % larger ranges of productiveness and 21 to 81 % larger gross sales per employee than non-innovative companies, relying on the kind of innovation.
The report, “Innovation for Quicker Financial Progress within the Caribbean: Are We There But?” is a part of IDB’s Caribbean Economics Quarterly publication sequence, which focuses on the financial efficiency of the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The report additionally reveals that many companies are poised to innovate however face vital boundaries. The report attracts on information from a survey carried out by the Compete Caribbean Partnership Facility to determine the principle obstacles companies face in attaining innovation.
These embrace macroeconomic circumstances, the regulatory surroundings, entry to finance, and labor market constraints. Challenges have been amplified through the COVID-19 pandemic, and even on the finish of 2024, a number of Caribbean international locations have solely simply recovered their pre-pandemic ranges of financial exercise.
Different key findings from the report embrace practically 57 % of companies being potential innovators for basic types of innovation, 85 % for digital innovation, and 48 % for inexperienced innovation.
As well as, the proportion of companies submitting patents elevated from 7.9 to 12.7 % between the 2014 and 2020 surveys. The report notes that the proportion is barely larger amongst female-led companies than amongst male-led companies.
The report additionally notes that coverage measures to foster an enabling surroundings for innovation embrace bettering labor market matches, offering devoted help providers for entrepreneurs, rising entry to progressive finance, and digitalizing public providers.
“Innovation is without doubt one of the key drivers for progress and resilience within the Caribbean. This report highlights the outstanding potential of our area’s companies. By addressing the boundaries they face, we will unlock even higher alternatives for sustainable improvement and competitiveness,” stated Anton Edmunds, IDB basic supervisor for the Caribbean.
