OCHO RIOS, Jamaica — State minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams says that government will be implementing comprehensive policies to sustain small and medium enterprises.

According to the minister the Companies Office of Jamaica will soon be introducing the super form (business registration form). 

This move she said will make the process of starting a business less tiresome as it will facilitate collection of all information for start-up in one location. 

The state minister added that plans are also in place for the implementation of online registration.

Ffolkes-Abrahams was speaking at the Jamaica National Small Business Loans annual board of directors’ luncheon on Monday, November 26 at The Ruins in Ocho Rios, St Ann.

“While the government cannot be involved in everything, we continue to put in place the necessary policy and infrastructural support to enable the growth of new firms and the survival of existing ones,” she said. 

Against this background Ffolkes Abrahams said that $3.7 billion has been made available for the development of small businesses under various government loan programmes.

Government is also assisting companies involved in export, the state minister contended.

Among the policies Ffolkes Abrahams said is the Export Plus Initiative from which some 200 small and medium enterprises are expected to benefit. 

“We need to get you exporting…for Jamaica to be a lender and not a borrower…and to have exports more than we have imports,” she declared.

The Secure Transaction Act and the “roll out of credit bureaus, some of which are already licensed to operate”, will further enhance small businesses, she argued.

“We are also progressing towards a small business procurement policy that will not only be favourable to existing businesses, but will also provide opportunity for new firms to participate in the government procurement process once the criteria are met,” Ffolkes-Abrahams said.

Other polices which are expected to boost small businesses in Jamaica according to Ffolkes-Abrahams are the Probate Patent and Insolvency laws, amendment to the Copyright Trademark and Companies Act and the implementation of a bureaucracy hotline.