Small businesses urged to take advantage of trade agreements

Standards, partnerships, financial literacy and lower costs of doing business will be among the key elements for a resilient and resourceful recovery of the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) sector coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This assessment came from officials on Tuesday during the third State of the Conference, which forms part of Small Business Week 2021.

The September 19 – 25 week of activities is being held under the theme The Road to a Resilient and Resourceful Recovery.

Executive Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency Deodat Maharaj said time was of the essence for work to be done to help the MSME sector rebuild. He stressed that the cost of doing business was one of the main hindrances due to the high cost of energy.

He said while improvement in standards was also necessary to the rebuilding and viability of businesses, those in the sector should also do more to take advantage of the various trade agreements between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and other regions.

“The reality for us in the Caribbean is that we can’t mass produce like China, we don’t have the scale to do so. We can’t mass produce like India, Ethiopia, Ghana or Nigeria. So for us it is about standards and specifically it is about taking advantage of the market access, and it is about premium product for a premium market at a premium price. I think in doing so we will create jobs and opportunities and earn precious foreign exchange,” said Maharaj.

According to him, each MSME operator should seek out partnerships to help grow and sustain their operation. Regional integration was “not an option but an imperative”, he added.

“Since the MSME sector forms the backbone of regional economies, the clear implication is that we really cannot fast-track post COVID-19 recovery and resilience and build back better without giving priority attention to this sector. The result if we don’t do this will be suboptimal or worse.

“Therefore, I strongly encourage policymakers, the large business enterprises, the banking sector and the development partners to give the highest priority to you in the MSME sector,” he told the Small Business Association (SBA) forum.

“Partnerships and working together are essential ingredients to help our MSMEs grow, create jobs and opportunities for Barbadians and for Caribbean people,” said Maharaj.

Meanwhile, Minister of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Kerrie Symmonds highlighted the importance of standards, saying he was disappointed that while the island had roughly 9,000 MSMEs, less than 100 of them had a working relationship with the Barbados National Standards Institution (BNSI).

In a speech reminiscent of that which he delivered at the 2020 conference, Symmonds again reported that the BNSI would soon be creating a national quality committee with “a developmental focus” to shape standards, technical rules and regulations across all sectors.

He also reiterated the need for national conversation on the ease of access to credit by the MSME sector, again insisting that Government will be establishing a collateral registry – a centralised database that records all the securities or collaterals of borrowers – allowing for the MSME sector to get financial assistance without requiring tangible assets, by registering on a web-based platform.

He also pointed to the importance of financial literacy and lower costs of doing business, saying these were important elements to the survival and sustainability of the MSME sector.

“I feel that if we are going to come out of the COVID environment with resilient entrepreneurs, then those persons in the entrepreneurial class or entering the entrepreneurial class must be, at all stages, supported in this journey in gaining and increasing their degree of financial knowledge,” said Symmonds.

He also reminded the audience that government would be introducing a new Metrology Act, that would replace the current Weights and Measures Act and make provision for accreditation and accurate measurement of all sectors. This, he said, should aid in increasing the capacity of firms to export.
(MM)