PHOTO: US$50m for SMEs
Scotiabank’s Pamela Douglas (second right), director professional partnerships, small business unit, joins Thomas Vis (left), senior private sector development specialist, World Bank, Finance Minister Peter Phillips, and Milverton Reynolds, managing director of the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), as they review the just signed DBJ-World Bank small business loan facility at the Mona Visitors Lodge and Conference Centre this morning. The facility, which comes as part of the Jamaica Foundation for Competitiveness and Growth Project, will provide US$50 million ($1.8 billion) for loans, some of which will be available to small and medium sized enterprises. The loan facility has been set up to assist business entities manoeuvre their way through the business regulatory issues that exist, and that may sometimes constrain entry. It will also facilitate the ability to improve capabilities through skills upgrading, as the fund will co-finance training support for individual firms.