Young Entrepreneurs Attend Training Workshop
By: February 13, 2017 ,The Key Point:
The Facts
- The workshop is being held at The Knutsford Court Hotel from February 13-17, under the Regional Entrepreneurship Asset Commercialization Hub (REACH) Project. It is being hosted by the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO).
- The REACH project is aimed at fostering innovation and competitiveness in Caribbean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by assisting them to commercialise their intellectual property assets.
The Full Story
Young entrepreneurs in Jamaica are benefitting from a week-long training workshop, which seeks to equip them to run successful businesses and to transform their ideas into viable enterprises.
The workshop is being held at The Knutsford Court Hotel from February 13-17, under the Regional Entrepreneurship Asset Commercialization Hub (REACH) Project. It is being hosted by the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (JIPO).
During the workshop/business labs, focus will be placed on the development of a business plan/proposal, and participants will learn how a business is operated through a series of practical activities.
REACH is an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) financed technical cooperation project being executed by the University of the West Indies, in collaboration with the World Intellectual
Property Organization (WIPO), Compete Caribbean Project, the Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) and JIPO.
In her address, Executive Director of JIPO, Ms. Lilyclaire Bellamy, noted that the business labs have been conducted in other member states of CARICOM.
“From your application, we recognise that you are young entrepreneurs. We look forward to you recognising the importance of intellectual property, because that will underpin everything that you will do,” she told the participants.
For his part, Director General in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Vivian Brown, said the Ministry is currently conducting a review of the 2013 Micro, Small and Medium-size Enterprises (MSME) and Entrepreneurship Policy.
“The review is to incorporate new developments, new knowledge to make it more relevant. But very importantly, what we are also doing is ensuring that we have associated with it an implementation plan which will set targets for the implementation of the policy,” Mr. Brown said.
The REACH project is aimed at fostering innovation and competitiveness in Caribbean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by assisting them to commercialise their intellectual property assets.
The project will provide capacity building, training and mentorship in technology commercialisation; creative industries intellectual asset management; and product branding value capturing.