SMEs investment conference: Opportunities grow with new Guyana-Trinidad business partnership

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked between Guyana’s Together We Win Business Network (TWWBN) and the Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CCIC) in Trinidad and Tobago is expected to boost local business capacity while significantly promoting joint investment opportunities.
The signing of this partnership, resulting from the recently concluded Guyana Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Investment Conference held earlier in July, was facilitated at the CCIC’s office at Cumberbatch Street, Chaguanas; and a statement emanating from that signing directed, “The MoU describes intended cooperation for SME development in both Guyana and Trinidad in areas of trade, business development, strategic alliances, joint ventures, joint investments, and joint internationalization.
CCIC is the leading business association in Central Trinidad, and is actively serving and representing the interests of its members and the business community through policy advocacy and delivering a wide variety of business programmes, services and benefits to support business development, growth, connectivity domestically and internationally to advance trading, commercial, industrial, professional, agricultural and civic interest.

And the Together We Win Business Network (TWWBN) is a Trust that functions as an umbrella organization of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), and is focused on establishing and forging a strong professional network through collaborations and support systems for greater economic development.
TWWBN has been working assiduously to elevate the quality of products and/or services offered by SMEs by providing opportunities for knowledge transference and partnership opportunities, to increase their capacity and competitiveness.
In 2022, TWWBN signed a MoU with the Global Entrepreneurship Network, followed by a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Alliance of Business Organizations in Suriname.

Support
Last month, it was disclosed that the Guyana Government has injected a whopping $1.8 billion to develop small businesses in all 10 administrative regions for 2023. This was according to Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, who added that a large portion of this money is yet to be distributed.
This sum accounts for two separate avenues to support small business financing. The first is the Small Business Bureau (SBB) grant, which falls under the auspices of the Tourism, Industry and Commerce Ministry. It was previously reported that over 700 applications were outstanding, given the meticulous requirements to confirm eligibility.
Based on Guyana’s grant regulations, recipients can receive anywhere between $500,000 and $150,000 under this initiative. However, the business must be compliant with all the requirements, including being registered with the Deeds and Commercial Registry, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the National Insurance Scheme (NIS). A business plan must also be submitted.
The former Sustainable Livelihoods and Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme has been redesigned by Government to allow for smaller business grants to be issued to a larger pool of people. This is after several members of the former Government had been flagged during an audit that found that millions in State funds had in fact been wasted.
Apart from funding, small business owners also benefit from a series of training to augment and enhance their operations.
For 2022, the Small Business Bureau had surpassed its 2022 grant distribution target by 631. The agency had a budgetary allocation of $300 million for the distribution of 800 small business grants. However, by the end of 2022, the agency had distributed a total of 1431 grants.
The Bureau has also trained more than 2000 business owners across the country in small business management, financial management, digital marketing, and business plan writing. (G12)