THE MINISTRY of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development and its stakeholders will develop a comprehensive framework on small and medium enterprise (SME) development.
This disclosure has come from the Minister with that portfolio, Senator Dr Esther Byer, who said they would also develop and adopt public-private coordinating mechanisms to increase opportunities for entrepreneurship and the development to innovative goods and services.
Byer made the comments over the weekend, as she addressed the Preview of Bank on Me Season Two at Scotiabank’s Haggatt Hall branch. She told her audience: “The Ministry will also be looking at international best practices, particularly from African states, where there are significant parallels to the Caribbean context and where entrepreneurship has been instrumental to their development,” she disclosed.
She said Government was aware that, if adequately facilitated, entrepreneurship could easily become the key plank in its plan to facilitate meaningful employment creation on a significant scale. She pointed out that the promotion of entrepreneurship was a part of the Barbados Growth and Development Strategy 2013-2020.
She underscored the important role entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship played in economic growth, and the role stakeholders who facilitate the entrepreneurial process need to play. “I also understand that there needs to be a different mind-set, as well as new behaviours to create jobs not only for ourselves, but for others, in order to attain sustainability for our economy…
“Entrepreneurship is the very engine of the much needed economic growth, and, we must admit, entrepreneurs not only create wealth for themselves but create jobs for others. We count on these innovative persons with new ideas to revitalise our economy,” she declared.
Small business banking manager at Scotiabank, Maureen Edwards, said the bank had faith in the ability of that sector to drive economic growth. “We believe that this is a very important sector of our business. This is why we invested in a dedicated team of small business managers to work directly with our entrepreneurial and small business customers,” she remarked.
Edwards said that when Blue Waters Productions approached Scotiabank to partner with it on Bank on Me Season One, the bank immediately saw the synergies connecting their vision to educate and empower entrepreneurs.
“We saw that vision become a reality as the first season of Bank On Me was extremely successful, with over 60 per cent of the contestants continuing to develop and take their business to the next level,” she disclosed. She added that quite a few of the contestants worked with Scotiabank’s Small Business Team. (BGIS)
