1000 benefit from entrepreneurial training, grants
Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin
Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin

By Navendra Seoraj

APPROXIMATELY 1000 persons have so far benefited from the Small Business Bureau’s Micro and Small Enterprise and Building Alternative Livelihoods for Vulnerable Groups (MSE) project.The project, which is funded by the Guyana REDD+Investment Fund (GRIF) allows individuals, potential entrepreneurs and business owners to access grants and training to perfect their entrepreneurial skills and maximize their profit returns.
Speaking at an induction ceremony for new trainers and partners for the MSE project on Thursday, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin indicated that training programmes are pivotal for broadening the scope for small businesses.
This, he said, is due to the fact that small businesses are the most vulnerable in the business landscape, not just in Guyana, but worldwide.
“Adequate training is needed to build the capacity of young entrepreneurs, hence they must ensure that the content is relevant and up to date… focus must be placed on the use of modern technology, so that entrepreneurs could catch up with the rest of the world,” the minister said, as he addressed the new trainers and partners.
With these interventions, the ministry hopes to realise the dream of making Guyana an investment hub by producing more young entrepreneurs and boosting the efficiency of the existing small-business owners.
Officer in Charge of the Small Business Bureau, Gillian Edwards, disclosed that the MSE project which commenced in 2013 has proven efficient. She indicated that to date, there has been a disbursement of 193 grants valuing $300,000 each, whereas, in collaboration with the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), Republic Bank and the Institute for Private Enterprise Development (IPED), 63 loans adding up to over US$1M, were granted to entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, as it relates to the training, the areas targeted cut across 11 sectors with the majority conforming to priorities under Guyana’s revolutionary Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Among them are fruit and vegetable farming, processing, aquaculture, eco-tourism, sustainable forestry and wood processing, business processing and outsourcing and bio-ethanol.
The Small Business Bureau (SBB) within the ministry will be the agency executing the US$10M project. The funding was made possible through the Guyana/Norway forest carbon partnership agreement.
Loans can be accessed at the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI), Republic Bank and the Institute for Private Enterprise Development (IPED) through an interest subsidy and support for a portion of the collateral required.

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