SCORES of Region 10 residents, particularly youths, will soon benefit from entrepreneurial training as the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), on Sunday, inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the launch of the Linden Entrepreneurial Network of Seventh-day Adventists (L.E.N.S.A.) training programme.

Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton, in an invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle shortly after the signing, said that the programme will focus on entrepreneurial and business development.

“The SDA, they reached out to us, that is the Board of Industrial Training, and so the programme was launched today [Sunday] and so we signed a memorandum of understanding to execute the programme,” Hamilton said.

The programme will see residents being trained in various fields including oil and gas, computer repairs, general construction, garment-making and food production, among many others.

The minister also reiterated that the government will continue to support every initiative that seeks to ensure citizens become productive and contribute to the development of the country.

The government, in the 2022 budget, earmarked $448.5 million to advance BIT’s work. The agency is aiming to equip some 4,000 young people in 2022, with the necessary technical and vocational skills to become gainfully employed.

Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, during his budget presentation had said that the government will partner with the private sector to provide relevant training to supplement its ongoing plans to streamline the national skills training programmes.

He further added that it is imperative that the technical and vocational training programmes are tailored to accommodate the needs of the labour market in every sector.

“Our government’s rapid development trajectory requires a skilled, qualified and innovative workforce. We have identified human capital development through technical and vocational skills as one of the most critical impetuses if our development objectives are to be met.”