Update on TEPA internship in UK: component of BCCC/TEPA MOU
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between TEPA and the BCCC St Lucia was signed recently in Saint Lucia and the first action under that MOU, Ms Andrena Simon, Marketing & Promotion Officer with TEPA bas been working within the BCCC’s international trade team in Yorkshire, UK.
Working as part of a team of international trade advisors and export documentation specialists Ms Simon is gaining experience in international trade procedures and market entry. She has researched the retail sector, met with importers to showcase St Lucian products and spent two weeks on secondment with BCCC Patrons Hotel Chocolat, a high end chocolatier and restaurateur that uses cocoa beans from St Lucia for much of their production. During her secondment Ms Simon gained hands on experience on how to promote products on the ground and even spent a few days at the retail end of the business interacting with customers and understanding their preferences.
Ms Simon said “The internship programme has provided me with the opportunity of working on “real projects” and as a result a number of existing and new initiatives have been identified and work is already in progress to bring them to fruition in 2017.
Once back in St Lucia, Ms Simon will continue to interact with her colleagues at BCCC in the UK to develop ideas and projects that will create opportunity for St Lucian product in what is essentially one of the world’s most competitive markets.
