Minister Shaw endorses staging of MSBM entrepreneurs’ conference

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon Audley, has endorsed the staging of the Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM) 4th International Business and Management Conference, which is geared towards addressing the pressing need to reflect on the experiences of Jamaica, and other small and developing states as it relates to entrepreneurship from a local and global perspective.

Speaking at the media launch on Thursday, June 27, 2019, at the Mona School of Business and Management North, Executive Lecture Theatre, University of the West Indies, Minister Shaw said Jamaica welcomes the staging of the conference, describing it as a timely opportunity to unearth ways in which government, private sector and academia can work together to facilitate the strengthening of the capacity of MSMEs seeking to enter the global marketplace.

“In modern society, the simultaneous developments of entrepreneurship and human skills have become catalysts for a country to achieve economic and social advancement. The MSME sector is a nursery for entrepreneurship, often driven by individual creativity and innovation,” said the Minister.
Meanwhile, Executive Director, Mona School of Business and Management, Dr. David McBean stated that “the school is mindful of its role in fostering the development of the ‘Fourth Economy’, and is providing a space for constructive dialogue towards identifying challenges and related solutions, as well as generating critical research, knowledge and training”.

He added that as an area of research, teaching and practice, entrepreneurship has assumed greater currency in the last decade or two, given the recognized link between entrepreneurship, innovation and development.

The conference will be held from July 10 through 12, 2019, under the theme, ‘Delivering on the Promise of Entrepreneurship: Critical Perspectives on Research, Practice and Thinking in the Fourth Economy.’ It will bring together SMEs, entrepreneurs, investors and other business practitioners and scholars, the public sector and civil society to share best practices, theory, concepts and methodologies and engender new ideas.
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