EDITORIAL: Important role for MSMEs
There has been much talk over the last few years about small business development, and the need to create an enabling environment to facilitate the growth and development of such businesses. The micro, small and medium entreprises (MSME) sector has come into even sharper focus over the last year or so, as this country and indeed the world have been grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
No doubt if a study were to be done in the future on the period prior to pandemic and the ensuing months, it would probably show an exponential increase in entrepreneurial activity and small business development. In the months since the cessation of international travel, the closure of hotels and decline in business activity in general, many people found themselves out of work and in an effort to make ends meet, a number of persons have sought to start new entreprises.
Given that, the goal must be to ensure that the necessary provisions are put in place to assist these persons in keeping their enterprises afloat, and not to see them simply as stopgaps until things pick up again. If we face the fact that things are not going back to normal and we will have a new normal to contend with, then the idea of being employed and also operating your own business, or having more than one iron in the fire in terms of business enterprises, will also not be farfetched. We feel then that efforts should be made to push even more the idea of small businesses development and entrepreneurship among Barbadians.
With the current administration having a Ministry focused on small business and entrepreneurship, it is safe to say that they are committed to seeing development in this area. Indeed the Government should be commended for developing the Trust Loan Fund, which has given people, who ordinarily may not have been able to secure financing to start an entreprise, the capital to get going. We heard earlier this week that this programme is going well, and that despite the expectation that recipients of the Fund would be delinquent in their payments, this has not been the case.
Certainly we hope that this continues, for we know that things have been tough, and the likelihood of persons missing payments can become very real if we have yet another shutdown, because of a rise in COVID-19 cases. One way of ensuring that they stay in business, is to see the region, and the world in fact, as their potential market, and not just Barbados. Whether you are providing a good or service, if it is marketable, then the sky is the limit.
Indeed, one can see the potential for businesses in the Caribbean to take advantage of the export opportunities by way of the various trade agreements that it has signed with countries across the world. But there has been concern that we are missing out on these opportunities.
This brings us then to a point made by the Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Kerrie Symmonds a few days ago about the need to promote quality and standards. One of the reasons we fail to capitalise on the opportunities made available by way of the trade agreements, is that our businesses are not meeting the international standards. Minister Symmonds indicated that in Barbados, one reason for this is that less than one percent of the almost 10,000 businesses in this country are clients of the Barbados National Standards Institution.
One welcomes the announcement that a national policy on quality, which will cover goods and services, is in the works for Barbados. It is hoped that the announcement of this proposed policy helps more businesses to recognise the role that quality and standards play in the success and longevity of their businesses, so that when it comes to fruition, that it is embraced and readily employed.