Hopeton Morrison, ContributorTThe Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) is a five-year technical assistance programme funded jointly by the European Union (EU) and the Government of Jamaica (GOJ).
The aim of the programme is to assist in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in improving competitiveness to take on the challenges and opportunities resulting from globalisation and the liberalisation of markets.
The programme has a total budget of ¤29 million ($2.3 billion) and is available to MSMEs as well as support institutions including financial institutions.
The programme is being implemented out of JAMPRO in collaboration with the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC) and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).
It is driven by 12 support programmes/activities to achieve its broad aim of competitiveness in Jamaican MSMEs.
Although all are crucial, those of particular importance are:
Cost-sharing business
development services
Market penetration
Export centres
Cluster and
sector initiatives
Back- office services.
The fashion and agribusiness sub-sectors in particular have been especially targeted for bench-marking against global firms and if you are or plan to be a participant in these two sub-sectors, now is a good time to sign up.
One of the complaints of existing as well as prospective entrepreneurs is the inability to access adequate financing. They argue that collateral requirements are often onerous.
Similarly, many financial institutions are wary of lending to MSMEs as they are often considered as high-risk ventures.
This has seen to the establishment under the project of a corporate finance broker which provides 'hand-holding' support for MSMEs to access funds from the formal financial sector. Services including business plan analysis and cash flow and budget reviews are subsidised by the project.
The requirements to access PSDP funding are:
Majority Jamaican ownership with significant growth potential in exports;
Operating a legally registered entity operating in a sector earmarked in the National Industrial Policy;
Business operates with assets under $80 million and/or employs less than 200 persons;
Ability to co-finance the activities;
A displayed capacity to become self-sustainable over the long term.
You are advised to look out for calls for proposals notices in the press or check the PSDP website at www.psdpjamaica.com. You can also contact JAMPRO, JBDC or the PSOJ.
Hopeton Morrison is general manager of St. Thomas Cooperative Credit Union Ltd. and lecturer at the University of Technology. Please send comments and questions to: hmorrison@stccu.com.
