Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 03, 2017 (SKNIS): As plans to establish a Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) in St. Kitts continue, the National Entrepreneurial Development Division (NEDD), in the Ministry of Trade, conducted a two day workshop aimed at training the SBDC’s future business directors and counsellors.
The workshop, which started on May 2, culminated today, May 3, with a short but significant ceremony to distribute certificates of completion.
At the event, Minister of Trade, Honourable Lindsay Grant, said that the government is of the view that small businesses are the engine of the federation’s economy and as such his ministry will do all in its power to “help, support and sustain small businesses. We have to do our part.”
The minister said that he was honoured to share in the participants’ achievement in completing Module 2 of the training after concluding Module 1 in March 20 to 22, 2017.
“While we are aware that not everyone would perform his or her roles the same way, this training is of critical importance in our efforts to further develop our Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector via the continued delivery of an effective and efficient technical assistance to our entrepreneurs and their enterprises,” said Minister Grant.
The minister said that one of the major aspects of the training was its focus on the proper documentation of activities both by the provider of the technical assistance and the entrepreneurs who are the recipients of the assistance.
“This is of critical importance as we are all aware that the absence of good documentation and data makes planning and projects success a near impossibility,” he said. “This is really one of the deficiencies of small businesses as I am a product of one. It’s all in the data when it comes to businesses.”
Minister Grant emphasized that the government recognizes the importance of MSMEs to the overall economic development of the country and that the government is firmly of the view that “it is worth every dollar being spent and being invested and this can be evidenced by our continued investment in NEDD.”
“We have given millions of dollars in concessions to small businesses. We believe in supporting small businesses because if we don’t give the small businesses support we will have no small businesses,” he said. “I believe if you look at the basis of this training programme, documentation will be imparted in it. I think [documentation] would be very good for the entrepreneurs here in terms of not only your delivery of service, but efficiency and effectiveness in the market place.”
He said that because small businesses are the engine of growth in the economy, the government is not only prepared to talk, but to also demonstrate “in most tangible ways” its intent to ensure the maximum possible support for entrepreneurs and their enterprises.
He encouraged the graduates of the two day workshop to use their newly acquired knowledge and techniques to move entrepreneurs to the next level. He said that they should try to ensure that entrepreneurs are able to improve and enhance their standard of living.