STANDARDS CORNER
Small Businesses can be an effective vehicle for the development of the national economy through the production of goods, and the provision of services.

Small businesses also provide employment for many citizens and therefore significantly reduce poverty. In Guyana, they represent more than three quarters of the total business activities and thus make a sizable contribution to the generation of employment and income.

Small businesses have demonstrated some capacity to be innovative, flexible and responsive to market forces and opportunities. The sector has the potential of creating both backward and forward economic linkages, to reduce foreign currency expenditure, to utilise local raw materials inputs, and to enhance economic and social conditions generally.

Despite many efforts made by Government and its supporting arms, many challenges still exist for this sector, which need to be addressed. For example, Small Businesses do not have sufficient access to markets, experience low levels of technical and managerial skills and sometimes have difficulties in accessing new technologies. Furthermore they have limited access to appropriate training opportunities, insufficient support for research and development, inadequate business information, inadequate transport and communication infrastructure and low levels of productivity and equality.

There is great need to develop a practical and decisive integrated, strategic plan that will effectively serve to move the sector forward and on sustainable path to longer term growth and development.

The solid support for small business sector development demonstrated by the Government is encouraging and commendable. The Small Business Act (No. 2 of 2004) was developed and under this act many businesses are given the opportunity for training in the areas of management, marketing and product development that will facilitate their growth and competitiveness. The Act also offers increased access to credit and a fund will be established to offer guarantees for persons who apply to financing institutions for loans.

The Small Business Bureau has the task of coordinating the development of the sector and it will have to rise to the challenges facing the sector in order for rapid development to take place.

Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has also developed a National standard for the small business sector to enable it to consistently meet applicable requirements for quality, environmental and occupational safety and health.

The standard specifies guidelines for a management system is aimed to enhance the performance of the sector, through the process of continual improvement, assurance of conformity, and the prevention of non-conformity by the application of the system.

Small businesses now have much needed support, through which they can upgrade, enhance and improve their operations, this can then enable them to become more competitive and gain easier market access for their goods and services, regionally and internationally. The GNBS is ready and willing to provide technical assistance to any business requiring its support in the area of product certification or in the implementation of management systems.

Finally, through a collaborative effort, the Caribbean Export Development Agency, CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) and the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, on Friday, July 17, 2009 one-day workshop targeting SMEs was held to share information on “The role of standards in enhancing SME competitiveness and methods of obtaining funding through the Caribbean Export Direct Assistance Scheme.

At the workshop, local micro and small enterprises were provided with information on metrology and its important link to trade, standardization, conformity assessment and access to funding for SME development from the Caribbean development Export Agency.

Many participants who attended showed strong interest in obtaining funding through CEDA and were interested in having suitable standards developed to boost the activities in the sector.