Top Caribbean investors awarded by Carib-Export
The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) and the Caribbean Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (CAIPA) have announced the winners of the 3rd Caribbean’s Regional Investor of the Year Awards for 2015-2016 (RIYA 2015-2016). The RIYA were handed out at the recently held Caribbean Investment Summit in Miami, which targeted investors in the US market.
Now in its third year, the RIYA 2015-2016 turned its attention to innovation bringing focus to the local and foreign investors in the region who have invested in a new idea, introduced a new device to the market, created an invention or introduced new practice methods that have been translated into a goods or service creating value, satisfying a specific consumer need and has created significant socio-economic impact. A special award was also given to a young investor in innovation whose investments are particularly noteworthy.
The RIYA 2015-2016 featured 3 specific award categories and received 26 applications from 9 countries. Front-runners for the title of Foreign Investor of the Year Award were: PV Energy Limited from Antigua & Barbuda; Lenstec Inc from Barbados; DP World Caucedo from the Dominican Republic; and Windjammer Landing Villa Beach Resort from St. Lucia. The Foreign Investor of the Year Award was captured by Lenstec Inc. a privately held medical device development and manufacturing company, specializing in intraocular lenses which invested in Barbados from USA.
For the Local Investor of the Year Award, the top 3 companies were: Chocolate Dreams LTD from Jamaica; DU BOULAY’S BOTTLING CO. LTD. from St. Lucia; and Bowjay from Guyana. The category winner was Saint Lucia’s DU BOULAY’S BOTTLING CO. LTD. a leading beverage manufacturing establishment in Saint Lucia and the OECS territories.
The top 3 companies in the Special Award category were: Kikaboni (Healthy Flow Agroindustrial SRL) from the Dominican Republic; JAMDUN FOOD Processing from Jamaica; and INAVA INCORPORATED from Guyana. The category winner and overall Regional Investor of the Year went to Kikaboni (Healthy Flow Agroindustrial SRL) a healthy snack manufacturing company from the Dominican Republic which became the first company in the world to produce healthy snacks using Moringa Oleifera as one of their main ingredients. Today they have three varieties of Pita Chips that use super foods like Moringa, Quinoa and Chia Seeds to boost the nutritional value of their products.
