Government is in the process of finalising its national Strategic Vision and Plan for the development of the Small and Medium Size Business sector in order to take it before Parliament.
This was revealed by Minister of Finance, Christopher Sinckler, who without going into specific details about the plan described it as “the most far reaching and innovative road map for the development and sustainability of the (Small and Medium-size Enterprise) SME sector in Barbados in well over three decades”.
Mr. Sinckler was at the time addressing the launch of the Regus Business Centre at One Welches, St. Thomas on Tuesday.
He said Micro, Small and Medium Size Enterprises (MSMEs) formed the bulk of Barbados’ private investors and played an important role in generating employment and enhancing economic development.
As a result, he lauded Regus’ selection of Barbados as its first location in the Caribbean. “Government considers that the opening of this global business centre will provide numerous benefits to businesses of all types and scales,” he said.
The Minister said that the Regus Business Centre could be used by startups and small businesses to help start them off on the “right footing”, while allowing them to portray a professional image to their clients and staff.
He added that the establishment of the Centre fell in line with Barbados’ Growth and Development Strategy 2013 to 2020 which promoted a vision that would develop an environment for business that engendered an innovative and flexible private sector to expand the growth of the domestic business sector.
That strategy, Mr. Sinckler said, would allow individuals and businesses to seize opportunities to improve people’s living standards. These included promoting an entrepreneurial culture; greater access to finance by MSMEs and an export culture among the MSME sector and enhanced competitiveness.
During his address, Managing Director of Regus, Mark Linehan, said that from a business perspective, the project was off to a good start with clients occupying space from day one of its opening three weeks ago.
He added that there were also plans to replicate the centre in other Caribbean islands, with one expected to open in Trinidad by year end, and another in Barbados next year.
Regus is the leading global workspace provider, offering companies of all sizes with a range of efficient work solutions. The Centre has 46 offices of varying sizes, 135 work stations, three meeting rooms including a board room and a business lounge.
