The Caribbean Export Development Agency, a key regional body dedicated to bolstering cross-border trade and export growth across the Caribbean bloc, has announced a new leadership team during its 46th Board of Directors meeting. This leadership transition coincides with the agency’s 30th year of operation, bringing decades of combined regional trade and development experience to the organization’s core mission.
Sunita Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Saint Lucia’s national export promotion body Export Saint Lucia, has been voted into the position of chairperson, while Ishmael Quiroz, executive director of Belize’s Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), will serve as deputy chairman. The appointment elevates Saint Lucia to a prominent leadership role within the influential regional organization, positioning the island nation to help steer trade strategy for the entire Caribbean community.
A seasoned economist, Daniel brings eight years of specialized leadership at Export Saint Lucia, where she has spent her tenure driving growth in both the total value and volume of goods and services exported from the island. Her professional background spans multiple critical areas of regional development: prior to taking the helm at Export Saint Lucia, she served as Saint Lucia’s Chief Planning Officer for Agriculture, and worked as a programme liaison officer for the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. Her wide-ranging expertise covers trade policy development, strategic planning, trade facilitation, agricultural growth, small and medium enterprise development, and resource mobilization.
In her first public statement following the election, Daniel expressed gratitude for the trust placed in her by fellow regional trade leaders. “I am honoured by the confidence reposed in me by my regional compatriots through their selection of me to serve as the Chairperson of the Caribbean Export Development Agency,” she said.
Emphasizing her enthusiasm to take on the new role, Daniel framed her leadership around a vision of expanding opportunity for Caribbean businesses worldwide. “I welcome the opportunity and challenge with optimism, and a vision to elevate Caribbean talent, creativity and entrepreneurship to higher levels of prosperity, at home and abroad,” she added. “Through innovation and regional collaboration, Caribbean enterprises will help shape global trade and not merely participate in it.”
As chairperson, Daniel will lead the agency’s strategic oversight, guiding its ongoing work to deliver on its core mandate of expanding regional trade and export development across the Caribbean. Caribbean Export Executive Director Dr Damie Sinanan welcomed the results of the election, highlighting the depth of practical experience both Daniel and Quiroz bring to the agency’s work supporting small and large businesses across the region.
For his part, deputy chairperson-elect Quiroz brings more than two decades of public service experience in Belize, with specialized expertise in private sector growth, investment attraction, and reforming national business climates to support enterprise expansion. He has reaffirmed BELTRAIDE’s full commitment to collaborating with the agency to advance export growth across the entire Caribbean region.