Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw (centre), views ‘Things Jamaican' products, during a tour of exhibits, at the 11th Annual Jamaica Business Development Corporation’s (JBDC) Small Business Expo and Conference, held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston, on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. Participants at the conference and expo will benefit from non-stop sessions delivered by industry experts on subject matters relating to this year’s theme ‘The Business Anatomy: Exploring the Hidden Parts’. Looking on are JBDC's Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Harold Davis (left); and CEO, JBDC, Valerie Veira.
Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon. Audley Shaw, has stated his intention to meet with the Tourism Linkages Council to discuss improved linkages between the micro-business and agriculture sectors and the tourism sector.
Minister Shaw announced this intention as he addressed the 11th Annual Small Business Expo and Conference held May 16 at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
Small businesses, Mr Shaw said, must do their research; take action and so market their goods in order to penetrate the tourism sector. He cited, as a model, the arrangements that had been made between Sandals Resorts and the potato growers of Manchester for the supply of Irish potato.
Encouraging businesses in the Micro, Small and Medium (MSME) sector to formalise their operations in order to access the necessary low interest funds to grow their businesses, Minister Shaw said that it was time for microeconomic mobilisation in Jamaica.
Minister Shaw said that after the downturn in entrepreneurism, in the wake of the FINSAC financial crisis of the 1990s, there was now a “new landscape of opportunities”. Citing the recently held Expo Jamaica 2018, the industry minister said further that the “spirit of initiative and enterprise was alive and well”.
Minister Shaw congratulated the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) for its leadership in small business sector and the staging of the annual expo and conference aimed at showcasing and enabling entrepreneurs.
Held under the theme “The Business Anatomy: Exploring the Hidden Parts”, this year’s conference will engage stakeholders in issues to do with business advisory, human resource management and legal requirements.
In addition to Wednesday’s Expo and Conference, the JBDC, on Tuesday, May 15, also launched, under its Things Jamaican portfolio, the 2nd edition of True Stories; From Farm to Fork, a publication chronicling the journey of 29 small manufacturers and enterprises in the agri-based sector.
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