It's a project aimed specifically towards Women Entrepreneurs who are interested in not only expanding their business but also opening up their product to the Canadian market for export. The launch for the GRIT project spearheaded by Beltraide took place this morning. Jomarie Lanza was there:
Hundreds of female entrepreneurs in Belize may now have a chance to export their products into Canada, thanks to the GRIT project launched by BELTRAIDE, the Canadian government and Caribbean export development agency. GRIT which stands for Generating Resilient And Inclusive Trade is a 3 million Canadian dollar project which seeks to create opportunities for women owned firms in 6 specific countries, Belize being one of them. Providing them with the resources they need to grow their business
Wayne Elliot, Manager, Technical Programs, Caribbean Export Development Agency
"Essentially what we are doing this morning is with the government of Belize and the Beltraide we are launching the GRIT project so Caribbean women generating resilient and inclusive trade, the GRIT project essentially is a 3 million dollar Canadian funded project which essentially helps Caribbean women in 6 countries really expand their businesses and work towards becoming more export ready and ultimately trading into international markets specifically the Canadian market."
"So the plan to achieve the objectives is to work with women entrepreneurs in the six countries we are going to be building their capacity, working along with them and planning designing and helping them to really think through market entry strategies, product development, building capacity all the way around with the businesses, meeting them where they are within their communities and really getting into the weeds as to how it is we can best prepare them for international market penetration. We will be having quite a bit of capacity building over this week. We will also be doing capacity building trainings, starting with exports into Canada with getting into understanding the Canadian market and the different facets that will become important if it is you do decide to enter into the Canadian market. Today we do the launch to understand, to really sit and work with women entrepreneurs here in Belize. Key facets of the project essentially is women-owned firms, those are the beneficiaries but we are hoping to target those who might have a disability so they are welcome and the project is trying to be inclusive of young women who are entrepreneurial. We are also going to be looking at rural based enterprises as well as working with those who might be from the indigenous Communities within Belize as well as within Dominica."
BELTRAIDE's Ishmael Quiroz who is also the Director for Caribbean Export Development Agency says this project can greatly benefit women who are looking to export their products.
Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE
"Caribbean export and Beltraide have a long standing relationship of collaboration whereby we partner to implement capacity building initiatives and projects to the benefit of Businesses in Belize entrepreneurs in Belize who have an interest in tapping into export markets and so what that has entailed over the past years has been a range of different initiatives that really begin to expose Belizean entrepreneurs to the nuances and the requirements it takes to get into export markets and so this is an example of a brand new initiative that is a regional project but that Belize is a beneficiary of that will benefit Belizean entrepreneurs, specifically women who are interested in getting into the export market."
One of those women is Shalwa Leslie, the owner of Farmed to perfection in the Cayo district. She says that it will be no easy task but she is willing to open up the business to the export market.
Shalwa Leslie, Farmed to Perfection
"For honey we are from farmed to perfection we produce 100% Belizean honey along with the bi products from the hive and so we were equipped with the statistics yes, I have done some research so far it is going to be very difficult but nothing is easy, nothing is never never easy so we are full force ahead to make our adjustments and to continue to learn and to make our way into Canada."
