News Releases

CCMF seminar explores Venture Capital Financing in context of regional transformation

For Release Upon Receipt - March 7, 2014

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – Despite the existence of a highly liquid financial market in the Caribbean, many believe that the ability to capitalize on entrepreneurial opportunities is stymied due to limited access to an appropriate mix of financial capital. It is against this background, says Executive Director of the Caribbean Centre for Money & Finance (CCMF) Professor Compton Bourne, that the organization has partnered with the Caribbean Development Bank, the Trinidad and Tobago International Financial Centre and First Citizens Bank, the region’s largest indigenous bank, to host a seminar to explore the theme “Venture Capital: Its Relevance For the Regional Transformation Agenda” on April 4th 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

The seminar is aimed at professionals in the financial services sector, private equity/venture capital fund managers, institutional and angel investors, policy-makers, entrepreneurial firms, business owners and representatives of development organizations with a focus on enterprise development.

Topics cover venture capital mobilization and allocation, effective fund management strategies, aligning fund raising to investment strategy, sourcing and structuring deals, valuations and exits and the significance of the Caribbean financial market structure and legislation to the venture capital process. Participants will gain practical insights through shared investor/investee Caribbean experiences of the venture capital process from pre-entry to post-exit.

Presenters include Minister of Finance, Government of Trinidad & Tobago, Senator Larry Howai, Director of the International Centre for Entrepreneurship Research at Essex Business School, University of Essex, UK, Professor Jay Mitra, Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad & Tobago Jwala Rambarran,   Advisor to the Prime Minister of Belize and former Governor of the Central Bank of Belize, Alan Slusher, Jeffery Hall, Group Managing Director, Jamaica Producers Limited.

Coming out of this interactive forum will be a more in-depth understanding of venture capital and its use as an effective complementary financing tool to accelerate entrepreneurial development, necessary for meaningful transformation. Interested persons should email Kathleen.Charles@sta.uwi.edu or ccmf@sta.uwi.edu; telephone, (868) 645 1174 or (868) 224 3727; fax, (868) 645 6017.  Visit the Caribbean Centre for Money & Finance website, www.ccmf-uwi.org for regular updates to the seminar programme or for further information.

End

 

About CCMF

The Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance (CCMF) is a policy research institution established by central banks of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries and The University of the West Indies, to undertake studies and provide information for monetary and financial policy issues for the region.

About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding higher education provider in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

Contact