Jamaican Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has reiterated what she says is the government’s commitment to put supportive mechanisms in place to facilitate the growth and development of the micro small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) sector.

Addressing the Small Business Association of Jamaica’s (SBAJ) 40th anniversary banquet Saturday night, Simpson Miller pledged that the government will continue to engage as well as create more opportunities for the growth and development of the MSMEs. She says this is shown through the move by the government to increase its loan support to the sector, with $1.3 billion disbursed by the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) last year.

In addition to the increased loan support, the Prime Minister says the Government has embarked on new initiatives to help small businesses build their capacity. She says these include increasing access to science and technology support through the Scientific Research Council and the Mobile Business Clinic initiative of the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC).

Simpson Miller says the “National Competitiveness Council has also been driving reforms to remove obstacles to business. The work of the Council has gone a far way in helping Jamaica achieve major ranking improvements for ease of doing business”.

According to the Prime Minister, her administration also enacted some of the most far-reaching legislation in support of small businesses as it works to create an enabling environment for the country’s small business owners to be profitable. She says these legislative reforms and the MSME and Entrepreneurship policy of 2013, are practical actions by the Government to build the capacity of this sector. BM