Barbados needs more entrepreneurs

MORE entrepreneurs are needed in Barbados.

This was expressed by acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, Mark Cummins, during the orientation ceremony of the YES Entrepreneurial Development Training Programme, which was held at the Ministry yesterday morning. He expressed that research showed to a large extent, the economic growth of a country depended on the level of entrepreneurial activities. It was for this reason he believed Barbados needed more entrepreneurs.

“Barbados needs more entrepreneurs, more innovation and more high growth micro, small and medium-sized enterprises,” he said.

“As a consequence, the Government of Barbados remains committed to fostering entrepreneurship and the development of youth-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. As a result, one of the main objectives of YES is to develop and empower young people to realise their aspirations and express their entrepreneurial capacity through enterprise creation.”

Cummins believed that the YES Entrepreneurial Development Training Programme will be the backbone of entrepreneurial development for young persons in Barbados.

“I am aware that many graduands of this training programme have started businesses in a number of areas from agriculture to cosmetology, from day care to dentistry, from beauty care to medical care and the list goes on,” he said.

“I look forward to your successes, but I am mindful of the fact that being an entrepreneur is not easy and you will encounter challenges along the way. But I implore you to maintain your dreams and when the road seems tough and the way seems weary, lean on your support system and more importantly, tell yourself, ‘Yes, I can make it happen.’”

The Acting PS expressed that the Government was very pleased to see that YES saw it fit to shift their focus to preserving Barbados’ entrepreneurial legacy through motivating the “young, incumbent” and next generation of business owners to engage in strategic activities that are meant to foster trans-generational entrepreneurship and also help them to grow successfully through creating a sustainable business in this economy.