Latest update December 12th, 2024 1:00 AM
723 small businesses from Regions 7, 8 & 9 registered in 2024
Kaieteur News- Seven hundred and twenty-three small businesses in Regions Seven, Eight and Nine were assisted by the Small Business Bureau to obtain business registrations this year.
This was disclosed by Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce Oneidge Walrond at an end-of-year press briefing held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Wednesday.
“We have recognized that these are remote communities that will not necessarily have ready access to be able to register their businesses,” the minister said, noting that the staff have been encouraging all business owners to get their businesses registered as a path to expansion and access to opportunities.
Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Oneidge Walrond
“So, registration of business has been a critical initiative and via our business registration hubs in these areas, we have been able to register almost 730 businesses and I think that is pretty significant in these regions alone, Regions 7, 8, and 9 and we continue to do it in other regions but this was pretty significant,” she explained.
The tourism minister said that her ministry is tasked with small business development and with this, they continue to focus on training and assisting small business.
Walrond mentioned that what they have noticed is that over the years they found that there seems to be a gap in terms of more support and training with these small businesses. She added that the Small Business Bureau has been assisting with this in building up capacity among small businesses.
“So, when businesses are being given financial support, we also want to be able to hold their hands, be able to train them on how to manage, how to do proper marketing and customer service,” Minister Walrond said.
Meanwhile, Kaieteur News understands that over 2000 small businesses benefited from Small Business Development Training. The minister said that the Ministries of Tourism and Human Services launched an initiative to assist small business owners with disabilities to acquire collateral free loans and expand their business. Persons with disabilities who are desirous of establishing their small business are also assisted with collateral free loans. Thus far, 21 businesses benefitted from the initiative.
(723 small businesses from Regions 7, 8 & 9 registered in 2024)
- 723, hinterland areas, Industry and Commerce, Minister of Tourism, Oneidge Walrond, registered businesses, Small Business Bureau, small businesses
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