Mobile Business Clinic Will Help Stimulate MSME Growth

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Anthony Hylton, said the Mobile Business Clinic Initiative will play a key role in stimulating growth and development in the Micro Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (MSME) sector.

Addressing the official roll out of the clinic on Tuesday, November 3, at Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, Minister Hylton said the occasion is “a great day” for enterprise and entrepreneurship in Jamaica.

He noted that the mobile clinic will enable MSME operators in remote areas to access business development services and support.

“This clinic is a fresh, new approach for working with MSMEs at a time of transformational change. For too long, business development services have been limited to Kingston, with people in the nook and crannies of Jamaica being left out. The mobile business clinic is geared towards synchronizing these services as it makes its way across the island to educate and to build the capacity of the micro, small and medium-sized enterprise,” he stated.

The Minister said Jamaica’s improved rating in the World Bank’s doing business index, at 58 out of 189 countries, will be ineffective unless the Government delivers educational and capacity-building services to ensure that entrepreneurs are able to take advantage of an improved business environment.

He said through the mobile business clinic, the Government is taking steps to be responsive to the needs of the business community.

“The Government recognizes and is taking steps…to be responsive to the needs that we are very well aware of. Let me be clear…MSMEs are the backbone of the Jamaican economy…accounting for over 90 per cent of jobs. It is for this reason that I have never spoken about the Jamaica logistics hub initiative without emphasizing the role of MSMEs as an integral component to enabling Jamaica to realize the logistics-centered economy,” he said.

The Mobile Business Clinic Initiative, which is being spearheaded by the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), an arm of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, has received sponsorship from National Commercial Bank, Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), Jamaica Logistics, Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ), Bureau of Standards Jamaica, and a number of media entities.

The clinic will be in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay until November 6.