The final ranking for the event is :

1st : Sophie KLEIN – JOIE- Ste Lucia

2nd : Kenna QUESTELLES GEORGE - Linkup –St Vincent

3rd : Leona MELIUS - Lily's Healthy Eats – Ste Lucia

4th Tehillah BANNIS - Herbie Care - Dominica

5th  Miah SCOTT - Shea Miah's – Grenada

Bridgetown,
BARBADOS, June 17, 2019 Over the past 5 months young
entrepreneurs have been battling it out to secure a place in the
final of the Caribbean Entrepreneur Challenge (CEC), a component of
the Trade Enhancement for the Eastern Caribbean (TEECA) project,
hosted by the Martinique Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the CTM,
the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and supported by the
Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export), with funding
by the European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG
Programme.

CEC was an initiative
which aimed to raise awareness amongst the younger Caribbean people
on regional cooperation and to encourage entrepreneurial innovation.
Students initially applied to the challenge online where they gave a
presentation of their business idea in one of the following areas:
fashion, agro transformation, ICT, environment or music.

The
top 10 presentations were selected to attend workshops on marketing,
management, creativity, innovation and pitching to help develop
enhanced business plans. The five most realistic innovative projects
were then invited to pitch their ideas to a Caribbean panel in the
final, where they could win a prize of between €1,000 to €10,000.

Nineteen-year-old Sophie
Klein from Saint Lucia grabbed the top prize at the CEC final held on
Wednesday June 5, 2019 in Trois-Ilets, Martinique for her business
plan to transform education through incorporating greater virtual
reality and gaming. The top prize of €10,000 and technical
guidance will be used to kickstart her business.

With her project titled
“JOIE” and in keeping with the ethos of her school Sir Arthur
Lewis Community College “The cure for poverty is not money but
knowledge” she set out a business plan that unlocked the
utilisation of virtual reality and gaming to enhance the learning
experience.

Other finalist included
Miah Scott from Grenada with a range naturally made skin moisturisers
and hair products under the name Shea Miah’s Way; Kenna Questelles
from St. Vincent and the Grenadines with her project Linkup an online
directory of restaurants menus and events; Leona Melius also from
Saint Lucia presented Lily’s Healthy Eats – an organic and local
food delivery service for schools and workplaces; and Tehillah Bannis
offered cosmetics products that are safe and of good quality for the
skin from Dominica with her project Herbie Care.

“Caribbean Export is
pleased to support a project which encourages young people to be
innovative and develop solutions for their immediate communities. We
are looking forward to seeing how these business ideas turn in to
reality” expressed Gayle Gollop, Special Advisor – Trade and
Legal Affairs, Caribbean Export.

About
Caribbean Export

Caribbean
Export is a regional export development and trade and investment
promotion organisation of the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM)
currently executing the Regional Private Sector Programme (RPSDP)
funded by the European Union under the 11th
European Development Fund (EDF) Caribbean Export’s mission is to
increase the competitiveness of Caribbean countries by providing
quality export development and trade and investment promotion
services through effective programme execution and strategic
alliances.

More
information about Caribbean Export can be found at
www.carib-export.com.
Contact: JoEllen Laryea, PR and Communications, Caribbean Export
Development Agency, Tel: +1(246) 436-0578, Fax: +1(246) 436-9999,
Email: jlaryea@carib-export.com