Government is assiduously working on improving business facilitation.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Business, Kevin Hunte, shared this news on Thursday evening, as he delivered the feature address at the Grow Together Small Business Training Programme’s Graduation Ceremony, at Hilton Barbados Resort.
Mr. Hunte told his audience: “We are very conscious that we have to create the policy space for you to operate in, and once we create that policy space, we need to make doing business as easy as possible while still maintaining effective regulation.
“And, that is something that we’re definitely working towards, and you will hear more of that this year. As a corollary to the business facilitation is trade facilitation, and we’re currently working on revamping our trade policy, which will inform our trade strategy and therefore see us being able to have mechanisms in place to have an ecosystem that really facilitates trade.”
The Permanent Secretary urged the entrepreneurs to play their part and contribute by giving feedback when requested.
Additionally, he encouraged the graduates to take advantage of Government’s financial literacy programme, which has three components – schools’, online, and community.
“Very shortly, we are going to be rolling out the community component. And that’s where you come in because we’re going to be coming into the community in various ways….
“We are going to be educating every single Barbadian who is willing to be a part of it on the value of money, how to use money, and how to let money work for you rather than you only work for money,” he stated.
Mr. Hunte indicated that businesspeople should work towards reducing their energy consumption and be energy efficient. He also encouraged the private sector and other entities to be creative and invest in micro and small businesses.
The Grow Together Small Business Training Programme was done in partnership with the Barbados Bottling Company Ltd., the Coca-Cola Company, and the National Transformation Initiative.
It was developed for owners and operators of retail businesses, such as minimarts, traditional shops, itinerant vendors, food and beverage establishments, and fruit vendors. The programme focuses on supporting future growth in the retail sector and economic growth for the country.