Caribbean Basin Corporation

venture capital company - the Caribbean Basin Corporation (CBC) - to help establish or expand small businesses in the Caribbean Basin. CBC will implement the project, providing project design and development, financial packaging, debt and equity funding, and management and marketing assistance. The subproject will assist 5-10 small businesses in the areas of agriculture, health, or nontraditional exports. Focus will be placed on "satellite ventures," in which crops are grown by small independent farmers, who will receive training, inputs, credit, and TA in quality control, packaging, and/or marketing at a "nucleus estate." Activities already identified by CBC as candidates for subproject funding include: macadamia nut planting in Costa Rica; harvest, freezing, and export of lobster and conch in Grenada; cultivation and export of flowers in Dominica; growing, packaging, grading, and export of winter vegetables in Jamaica; production and processing of passion fruit in Costa Rica or Dominica; and a food processing plant in Grenada. Expected benefits to host countries include employment, additional foreign exchange, technology transfer and training, and economic opportunities and extension services. A.I.D. loan funds will be matched by at least equal amounts of private equity investment in CBIC.