ST JAMES, Jamaica – Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Public Service, Fayval Williams says while a formal framework can assist in growing the angel investor network industry, the government is not anxious to regulate such.

Angel investing, which is a group of individuals with high net worth, investing capital and time in young businesses with a goal of making a financial return and contribute to the entrepreneurial community, is fairly new to Jamaica. This type of investment was introduced to Jamaica more than two years ago by First Angels Jamaica followed by Alpha Angels.The state minister, who invited the investment network founders to have dialogue with the government, said more understanding of the industry is needed as the government seeks to assist the industry in developing and growing.”I am going to ensure that we (government) are not too eager to regulate, but to allow the room for the industry to develop,” assured Williams during her keynote address at the Caribbean Export Development Agency in collaboration with the World Bank Group inaugural Caribbean Angel Investor Network Forum.The forum was held at the Hyatt Rose Hall Resort in St James last Friday.She continued, “I applaud this forum for bringing together all the different stakeholders. But, many times when things such as this begin, and it begins in an informal way, the informality kind of limits the growth and that’s where government comes in. Sometime to help to bring a framework to the industry so that it can open it up to other forms of investing, because there is this framework in legislation.”The minister further reiterated the invitation extended by the government for dialogue.”The invitation to come and speak with us is a real one. We seek understanding and we would like to know what are things that we need to put in place to help angel investing in Jamaica, and maybe, across the wider Caribbean grow and flourish,” said Williams.During a panel discussion, Co-founder of First Angels Jamaica, Joseph Matalon said the government has a role to play in the building out of an ecosystem.It includes “…getting the resources and getting the kind of management focus within the government apparatus on the development of the ecosystem and the role that the government can play. It is a huge role though and I think it ought to be a dominant role for the private sector. Yes, we are the customers. So, I would hope that the accelerators and incubators would be talking to us about what it is that we are looking for and tweeting their own programmes accordingly to make it easier for us,” stated Matalon.”…We won’t have, in my estimation, a fully built out ecosystem in Jamaica in under ten or fifteen years. But, the work has to be done and it has to be done consistently and I think that is what we need to be about,” added Matalon.First Angels Jamaica and Alpha Angels were both congratulated by Ganesh Rasagam, World Bank Practice Manager for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, for being pioneers with an outstanding story.There are a number of regional angel groups within the Caribbean, to include: two in Jamaica (First Angels Jamaica and Alpha Angels), two in Trinidad and Tobago (Infinite Potential Angels and Renaissance Angels) and one in Barbados (Trident Angels).The Caribbean Angel Investors Forum brought together existing and prospective high-net-worth individuals (investors or Angels) throughout the region and internationally with the aim of further building on previous efforts to formulate structured angel investing in the Caribbean.This was done through themed discussions and workshops focused on pertinent investment topics.The event allowed participants to network with regional and international investors and a select number of innovative entrepreneurs who were afforded the opportunity to showcase their businesses at the forum.The forum was held under the theme: Growing Angel Investing in the Caribbean.Anthony Lewis