Ease For Small & Medium-Sized Businesses

Barbados: The Ministry responsible for Small Business Development is looking to establish a new policy framework shortly to help ease some of the financial burdens being faced by small and medium- sized businesses throughout the island.

Word of this came today from Commerce Minister, Donville Inniss, as he addressed the launch of Scotiabank Barbados’ 60th Anniversary Celebrations, at its flagship branch on Broad Street, The City.
Mr. Inniss told attendees that he was aware of the challenges faced by the bank’s customers, as well as the small business sector in particular.
Noting that his Ministry’s role was to create the right eco-system that would allow persons to access financing, he said this could be achieved through legislative reforms; an enabling environment of business support services; and, wherever possible, helping bankers provide the right type of financing for the sector.
Stressing that the roll-out of the new policy framework to aid small and medium-sized enterprises in Barbados would be achieved in part through philanthropy to help access financing, Mr. Inniss lauded Scotiabank for its contribution of $60,000 to the Future Centre Trust.
Meanwhile, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Christopher Sinckler, praised Scotiabank for staying the course, and underscored the importance of strong partners in the financial sector.
He continued: “In the 1950s, when you first came to Barbados to set up your operation, you would have taken on a tremendous risk… in terms of it being an unknown territory, a relatively small market comparatively, going through the upheavals and discomfitures of moving from a colonial experience to an independent country, along with all of the uncertainties and challenges which that would have presented. And, so it must have been a leap of faith for the early managers of this institution to have taken that particular step.”
Senior Marketing Manager at Scotiabank, Lisa Cole, also disclosed that the bank’s activities to laud its 60th anniversary would spread over a six-month period, and each branch would have a customer appreciation day. She added that a main part of the bank’s focus would be on the various communities across the island, with a particular emphasis on literacy.
theresa.blackman@barbados.gov.bb