[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Ministry of Business along with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Chile, opened a three-day workshop aimed at assisting the rural poor to develop business plans.
This initiative, which is funded through the Chile Fund against Hunger and Poverty, seeks to empower approximately 50 individuals from entrepreneurial backgrounds along with disadvantaged women and unemployed youths.
It will allow them to benefit from grants which are provided through the programme and the Ministry. According to UNDP Country Representative, Ms. Khadija Musa, the undertaking will provide a leeway for small enterprises to access financing.
The Ministry of Business will provide an additional grant to the participants upon completion of the workshop. This is not inclusive of the grant which the UNDP will be giving to the participants.
Musa expressed hope that at least 50 jobs would be created from this initiative, which will allow individuals to be their own boss as well as to employ others as their businesses expand.
Meanwhile, Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin extended his appreciation to the agencies partnering to make the workshop a success. The Minister, alluded to the strong bonds that the two countries share, noting that an air service agreement which was recently agreed by the two countries will further strengthen this bond and bring mutual benefits to both countries.
According to the Business Minister, this project is expected to see a total of ten enterprises benefiting from a grant of US$5000 each. Gaskin said where small business are concerned there will be help in the form of loans, grants, and training, since the immediate goal during 2015, is the creation of over 400 new jobs, training hundreds of businesses, and the release of tens of millions of dollars in affordable financing.
He added that training is also a key priority for the government since awarding 20% of the contracts to these entities would require their capacity to be up to standard. [Extracted and modified from GINA]
”……to empower approximately 50 individuals from entrepreneurial backgrounds along with disadvantaged women and unemployed youths”.
Three criteria have been identified to be used in selecting these fifty individuals:
1 entrepreneurial background
2 disadvantaged women
3 unemployed youths
Who would be in-charge in the selecting these individuals?
Which region would these individuals be selected from?
Would those selected reflect the make up of the population?
These are simple questions worth thinking about as the trend seems to suggest that only one ethnic group gets the biggest slice of the cake since this Granger administration went into office,