A 23 member British business delegation is in Barbados to seek partnerships from February 22-25, the group are also the first UK Trade & Investment sponsored Aid Funded Business Service mission to visit the Caribbean.

Claire has led similar missions to the headquarters of the African Development Bank, Asia Development Bank, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank

UK Trade & Investment is the Government organisation that helps UK based companies succeed in the global economy and assists overseas companies to bring their high quality investment to the UK. The Aid Funded Business Service helps UK companies identify and secure business from International Donor Agencies. The purpose of this visit is to help British companies identify potential projects of interest and meet with key contacts within Barbados based Donor Agencies who cover the Caribbean.

Delegation members will participate in a Seminar at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and attend presentations at the Inter American Development Bank (IABD), Department for International Development in the Caribbean (DFID) and the European Commission Delegation to Barbados and The Eastern Caribbean (EU). Delegation members will then follow their own individual programme of appointments organised by the British High Commission with Barbados Government officials, private sector organisations and company representatives.

The Mission Leader is Miss Claire Gamage, Project Manager of the Aid Funded Business Service. Miss Gamage has led similar missions to the headquarters of the African Development Bank, Asia Development Bank, World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. Participating companies offer a variety of consulting services and UK products, including engineering, construction, education, vocational and skills training services, software product based solutions, crime prevention and crime safety services, electronic payment services, financial services (tax and financial management of debt), forensic science services, legal executive training, inspection and verification certification services, energy saving solutions, IT services, public sector and organisation reform, social housing solutions and institutional strengthening solutions.