PSDP to Stage Symposium January 21- 22

The Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP), a five year initiative between the Government of Jamaica and the European Union, will stage a two-day symposium at the Girls Guides Headquarters in Kingston on January 21 and 22, targeting Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises for business development opportunities and options.
Programme Manager for the PSDP, Wynette Anderson, told JIS News that the symposium, which will be held under the theme: “Small Business, Think Big”, aims to bring together in one forum, all of the technical assistance services available to MSMEs under the programme, and affording existing and potential entrepreneurs the chance to interface with the relevant consultants who deliver these provisions.
“The target audience can… spend a day and a half interacting with them (consultants) and getting through the starting process for, say, their business plans, getting their businesses rated for upgrading, and also being able to benefit from seeing some of what has been done by the programme before, via testimonials from previous beneficiaries,” Mrs. Anderson outlined.
Topics to be covered at the various workshops to be held include: ‘Planning for Export’, ‘Pricing for Export’, ‘Export Competitiveness’, and ‘Cluster Methodology’. Industry, Investment, and Commerce Minister, Karl Samuda, will be guest speaker at the official opening ceremony on January 21, which will also be attended by Head of the European Delegation in Jamaica, Ambassador Marco Mazzocchi-Alemanni.
Mrs. Anderson described the response from targeted stakeholders, as “overwhelming” adding that, consideration may be given to staging at least one additional forum, before the programme concludes at the end of the year.
“We just may need to think about taking it to another part of the island. It’s just a thought right now, but I’m sure before the year ends, we would probably do something similar again,” she said.
The PSDP Programme Manager is encouraging all interested stakeholders, contemplating whether they should attend, to participate.
“We are in a time… where people (who) are, probably faced with things like loss of jobs, will have a business idea, and want to be able to take it into reality. Our Corporate Finance Broker Unit is staffed by a team of very experienced consultants, who can take them through their business ideas into reality. There will also be the Export Centre and Business Information Point (EC/BIP), where people can get business-related information (on) how to register your business. (and) tap into an export market. There is something for everybody,” Mrs. Anderson stated.
The Private Sector Development Programme, which started in 2004, seeks to enhance the competitiveness and profitability of beneficiary micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Since its establishment, the PSDP has facilitated grant funding of some J$308 million to 123 MSMEs and Community Based Organisations (CBOs).