Government has extended the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Programme to May, to allow more persons an opportunity to benefit from this initiative.
Commerce Minister Emma Hippolyte said this was necessary to accommodate persons who had not completed or had difficulty with the application process.
Also, it will allow persons whose application have been denied another opportunity to re-apply and cash in on the programme.
According to Minister Hippolyte, the deadline for application to the Micro and Small Grant Facility has been extended to May 31st.
“We have quite a few persons that are still requesting time to get the registration of their companies together …and their business names,” she told reporters ahead of the weekly cabinet briefings, Monday.
She said several other persons experience challenges in completing “their project plans, so we have taken a decision to extend the deadline.”
The minister stated that all interested persons should contact the Ministry of Commerce for more information about the programme.
Over the past month, Minister Hippolyte explained, the department has held some “online sessions to encourage persons and to help them prepare their business plans, and to tell them about the requirements for the MSME Loan Grant.”
Participants were placed in different age categories, with persons aged 16 to 35 directed to the Youth Economy Agency (YEA), while persons between the ages of 31 to 60 were eligible for the MSME Loan Programme.
The minister noted that several persons applied from the agricultural sector and also from the tourism sector. She added, “lots of restaurant owners and persons wanting to open bars and things like these.”
Nonetheless, she feels, one area that was underserved was in the area of ITC.
“We were a little surprised that we are not getting more businesses in that area so we are now doing some targeted work with some sectors,” said Hippolyte.
The minister said another area being scrutinized is the fashion sector, “and we are working with that sector as a cluster, because in some areas, the departments and sectors require assistance, so we are doing that.”
In order to meet the criteria in the fashion industry, she said the ministry has met with the Fashion Council where discussions were held pertaining to the “special type” of equipment needed “if we are to move the fashion industry.”
Minister Hippolyte said the department has also met with persons in the agricultural sector. And for instance, she met with the Fond St Jacques “dasheen farmers” from the Soufriere community, “because Fond St Jacques has the right climatic conditions for that” kind of crop productivity.
“But, you might have young persons that want to go into farming… and (to utilize) the right kind of technology that is required,” she said. “So, we need to work with them separately, and likewise with vegetable farmers differently (and) that’s important for us.”
Hippolyte said the ministry also makes provisions for persons involved in the arts and crafts sector and agro- producers. The ministry, she said, would link with extension officers or technical personnel from the Ministry of Agriculture to make the respective projects feasible.
“More than 200 persons have joined the online sessions so now it is to ‘hold the hands’ of these various persons, put them in groups and categories and try to get them to the finishing line,” the minister declared.