Government Committed to MSME Development

Several initiatives geared towards development of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector are being pursued across government during 2016/17.

The disclosure was made by Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Karl Samuda, while speaking at the opening ceremony of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation’s (JBDC) 9th Annual Small Business Expo on May 12 at the Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.
The initiatives include:
1. Capacity development workshops to transform MSMEs, where the capacity of some 120 MSMEs will be developed to design and execute business models. This will also improve the ability of MSMEs to access financing. It is expected that at least 10% of the participants will become listed on the Junior Stock Exchange.

2. SME Capacity Building & Sustainability – 300 SMEs will compete for the best entrepreneurial activity contributing to economic growth and employment. The contestants will benefit from capacity building and the opportunity for mentorship and funding through matching with investors.

3. National Consultative Mechanisms – Thematic Working Group on MSMEs – which will be the primary consultative mechanism for dealing with issues pertinent to the development of the sector, while serving as an evaluative mechanism to ensure consistency of the policies and programmes within the Medium Term Socio-Economic Policy Framework (MTF) for 2015-2018, and Vision 2030.

4. Innovation Grant from New Ideas to Entrepreneurship (IGNITE) – where 30 MSMEs with innovative ideas will benefit from assistance to commercialise their projects. The pilot project will last for two years and will target new businesses.

Minister Samuda said his Ministry, as a signal of its commitment to the MSME sector, established a dedicated MSME Office in January of this year. This Office, he said, will play a critical role in the implementation of the MSME and Entrepreneurship Policy, while aligning the work of the Ministry with that of other key stakeholders in government, private sector, and academia.

The Minister noted that the JBDC will continue to spearhead the efforts to make the MSME sector more business-focused, and ready to take advantage of the opportunities for growth.
In that regard, he said “the JBDC will continue to provide the MSMEs with the necessary information, services, training and business development support that will enable these entities to become greater players in global value chains, and to improve their standards.”