A senior government minister is of the view that more has to be done in support of entrepreneurship development in Barbados and throughout the region.
Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss made this observation earlier today while addressing the opening of the Barbados Coalition of Service Industries Inc., Accelerate Caribbean???s Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development Forum at the Courtyard by Marriott.
He noted that more work had to be done to ensure services provided in support of entrepreneurship development were coherent, effective, cutting edge, outward looking and would position entrepreneurs to break into the new markets.
???It is my understanding that the Accelerate Caribbean project will not only facilitate the generation of business support services to Barbados and the wider Caribbean but will bring a model of support for entrepreneurship through an expanded incubator and accelerator institutional framework.??? the Minister said.
Mr. Inniss noted that as the region sought to build out a viable entrepreneurship ecosystem, it must do so cognisant of the fact that there was an important distinction between formal entrepreneurs whose businesses were officially registered and therefore had access to legal and financial protection mechanisms, and informal entrepreneurs who had hardly any access to the institutions that made the market economy work.
He suggested the implications of so many entrepreneurs being locked out of the formal market system were crucial for regional development prospects, given the massive scale of informality within the region and the critical importance of this sector in facilitating increased global trade.??He advised: ???It must be noted that entrepreneurs, whether categorised as traditional or social, formal or informal do not operate in a vacuum.
Entrepreneurs work within the framework of the opportunities and constraints created by a variety of factors within their environment. Shaping these factors in a manner conducive to starting and growing new businesses, and encouraging innovation more broadly, is the essence of building regional entrepreneurship ecosystems.???
The Minister further emphasised that the key components of the development and sustainability of an entrepreneurial class must also include the need to identify, train, connect and sustain, fund, enable, as well as celebrate entrepreneurs.
theresa.blackman@barbados.gov.bb