Business

Clearly not expecting financial institutions to lend irresponsibly, president of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Milton Samuda, is urging resource-rich facilities to fuel capacity building - preparing small businesses to be "bank-ready".

The chamber president was speaking at the recent press launch of the first Small Business Conference (SBC) to be staged by the Small Business Association of Jamaica and the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce at The Wyndham Kingston hotel in New Kingston.

The conference has been tagged under the theme 'Jamaicans Taking Advantage of Business Opportunities'.

Samuda in his speech said that in preparation for Jamaican small businesses to succeed, those with the resources must assist them to formalise their activities, record-keeping and governance structures; improve their skills not just in their area of expertise, but also in market assessment and technology application.

He described the conference, which is being powered by Flow, as pivotal and timely.

"It is being staged at a critical juncture in Jamaica's history," Samuda said.

He noted that small businesses needed enabling in the collateraliasation of intellectual property and the obtaining of title to family lands so that as small entrepreneurs, many of whom operate family business, can collateralise their borrowing and access loan capital.

The Chamber of Commerce observations fall in line with the topics to be discussed at the one-day event. The areas to be covered include financing options, identifying viable business oppor-tunities, effective marketing and distribution and taxation and regulatory requirements, areas president of the Small Business Association of Jamaica, Dalma James, describes as critical.

Part of 2030 vision

"We will have expert presenters in these areas who will present papers, followed by discussions," said James. Hoping to achieve a more efficient sector at the end of the day, James said this was part of the 2030 Vision for Jamaica.

SBC 2010 is being sponsored by Guardsman Group of Companies, Jamaica Public Service Company Limited, Flow, Jamaica Air Shuttle and Xsomo International Limited.

"Our involvement stems from the need to help to facilitate the growth, development and competitiveness of this critical segment of the Jamaican business landscape," says Flow's director of marketing, Sharon Roper.

"We also recognise the challenges that many of these small businesses face in their day-to-day operations, and we are here to help alleviate some of these challenges and to showcase some of the ways that they can take advantage of the opportunities."

The 2010 Doing Business Index, published by the World Bank, shows that Jamaica is ranked 75th overall of 183 countries, ranking 19 in starting a business, 23 in closing a business, 87 in getting credit and 174 in ease of paying taxes.