MSME Operators Urged To Embrace Technology

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, is urging operators to Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME)  to take advantage of available technology to boost their business.

“I don’t believe, certainly in our case in Jamaica that we are embracing technology enough. I don’t believe that our small and medium enterprises take enough advantage of information technology…It is amazing what information can do in putting your business in a regional market and certainly into a global market,” he said.

Minister Shaw was speaking at the opening ceremony for the Small Business Association of Jamaica’s (SBAJ) inaugural Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (MSME) Caribbean Conference at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in St. James on Thursday (July 20).

He said that the region could become stronger by players in the business sector working closer and adopting the range of technology that is available.

“We have such a range of capacities in our region. We have such a range of individual strengths that if we come together as a region…in using technology, we can identify new markets, new window of opportunities. The future is exciting if we embrace technology,” he added.

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Karl Samuda, in his address, encouraged players in the MSME sector to invest in their own personal development in order to be efficient and effective.

Minister Samuda noted that there are a lot of people, who go into business without the necessary training, which often results in failures.

“There are a lot of people, who want to go into small businesses. They love the idea of being in business, but they are not trained, they have little or no money, but they have a brilliant idea. Eighty per cent of failures in the micro and small business sectors come from those who have never been trained in business,” he pointed out.