Thursday, July 16 the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SBAJ) held a very successful national conference at the Jamaica Pegasus with over 1,000 attendees under the theme ‘Rebuilding the MSME Sector: A National Imperative for 2026 and Beyond’.

As its President Garnett Reid noted, the success of the conference was due to its emphasis on “systemic change”, shifting from “passive advocacy to a powerhouse of active execution” through historic partnerships with several memorandums of understanding (MOUs), including witjh Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC), Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

In his opening speech, JCC President Emile Leiba noted that members of the SBAJ could now apply for grants from the $20-million joint JCC/Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica/Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association “resilience fund” originally raised for Hurricane Melissa, which he described as a good example of “less talk, more action”.

Of particular note was the SBAJ collaboration with the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC) and the Public Procurement Commission to finally operationalise the 20 per cent procurement set aside for small businesses along with their Post-Melissa advocacy, which was recognised by Finance Minister Fayval Williams in her own speech at the conference. Declaring small businesses “partners in one shared Jamaica”, she said by the end of July the “Public Procurement Portal” would be open, and that shortly thereafter the MIIC is expected to roll out guidance notes on how to activate the new procurement guidelines.

In her keynote speech on behalf of Minister Aubyn Hill, permanent secretary in the MIIC, Sancia Templer, outlined that a revised Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) and Entrepreneurship Policy would be finalised this year, not only to help start businesses but to also help existing businesses to become more innovative and productive. She advised that through their 20 agencies, collectively, they offer more than 75 business support services, including through the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), the Companies Office of Jamaica, the Bureau of Standards, Jamaica Promotions Corporation, and the Trade Board Limited, with the latter giving access to market intelligence and compliance data for over 190 countries.

Emile Leiba.

A key partner at the SBAJ event was the IDB. Jamaica Country Representative Natacha Marzolf emphasised building partnerships, identifying practical solutions, and translating dialogue into action for Jamaica’s entrepreneurs and MSMEs, an agenda that has become even more compelling following the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa.

She noted that of the US$12.2 billion in damage and losses, the private sector accounted for 80 per cent, with the productive sectors bearing more than 60 per cent which included MSMEs. In addition, disasters disrupt production, interrupt supply chains, reduce market access, erode productivity, and profoundly affect livelihoods in vulnerable communities.

One of the IDB’s flagship partnerships is the Boosting Innovation, Growth and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (BIGEE I) implemented by the DBJ with support from the European Union.

Through the programme, more than 15 innovation instruments have been deployed through 1,500 businesses across the island and nearly 60 ecosystem institutions, leveraging an additional US$8.2 million in European Union grant financing focused on gender inclusion and climate resilience.

By partnering with the MIIC, they have supported nine MSME Roadshows that have connected entrepreneurs with practical business advice, financing opportunities, Government services, and the wide range of programmes available to help them start, secure seed financing, innovate, and grow their businesses.

The IDB and DBJ are now adapting elements of BIGEE I to support business recovery through innovation grants, technology extension services, cluster development support, resilience-oriented vouchers, and enhanced advisory services.

Building on the success of BIGEE I, the IDB Group is now preparing BIGEE II — the next phase of their partnership with Jamaica designed to strengthen productivity, innovation, and competitiveness among MSMEs and start-ups.

While BIGEE I focused on strengthening Jamaica’s innovation ecosystem, BIGEE II moves further upstream by helping firms create, adopt, and commercialise innovation through technology upgrading while placing a much stronger emphasis on climate resilience, recognising that climate-related shocks can quickly erode productivity gains in small island economies such as Jamaica.

BIGEE II will combine grants, risk-sharing mechanisms, contingent lines of credit, technical assistance, and innovation financing to help businesses invest in research and development (R&D) through R&D vouchers, adopting new technologies, strengthening climate resilience clusters, and supporting value chains.

She added that small business development requires an ecosystem, which is why the IDB Group is bringing together the complementary strengths of the IDB, IDB Invest, and IDB Lab to support businesses at every stage of their journey.

Other powerhouse presenters included Canadian Jamaican billionaire Michael Lee Chin, who, in addition to emphasising recent investments in nuclear energy, outlined the seven key personal attributes that teenagers should be taught by their families to achieve a growth and resilience mindset — creativity, hard work, being hands-on, purpose, high expectations, love of country, and grit — with grit being particularly important for entrepreneurial success.

Finally, two other partnerships were particularly noteworthy.

Andre Gooden represented Jamaica Stock Exchange CEO Livingstone Morrison on, inter alia, the JSE micro market “sandbox” as a structured pathway to build familiarity with reporting, governance, and disclosure before becoming a public company.

But the most interesting piece of new information from the conference came from a question by Acting Commissioner of the Jamaican Customs Agency Kirk Benjamin, who asked if anyone in the audience knew about the Productive Input Relief (PIR) programme, which provides duty-free importation and tax concessions on essential inputs for approved businesses in manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, health care, and the creative industries. Only two people, other than myself, put up their hands.

Keith Collister