The Local Government Ministry and the Caribbean Local Economic Development Programme (CARILED) body yesterday inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at strengthening and providing support to entrepreneurial activities at the local level.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the signing, which was done at the Local Government Ministry office at Fort Street, Kingston, will see the ministry being actively involved in promoting small, medium and micro enterprises across the country.
It said that the CARILED programme takes a unique approach as regards development in the Caribbean and according to the release, Guyana is the first of seven countries which will receive funding for the implementation of the project which is being facilitated by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
Local Government Minister, Ganga Persaud expressed gratitude to the Canadians for consistently providing support at various levels locally.
“We in Guyana are very happy that our proposal was accepted and so we became part of the first group of benefitting states”, Persaud said. He added that the programme was being undertaken when there is a sloth in economic activities globally.
He added that interventions over the next six years will seek to further enhance empowerment of entrepreneurial activities across the country.
Initially the programme will be inaugurated in Regions 1, 3, 5 and 6 and will be expanded thereafter.
According to GINA, the project recognises around the world that small, medium and micro enterprises often fail because of a lack of institutional support which is required to nurture them in the early phases.
Naresh Singh, Programme Director of CARILED said that the project hinges on the assumptions that local government can work effectively with economic ventures.
“There is some degree of challenges in this work because businesses traditionally have not turned to the local government for backup or support“, Singh said. He said, ”everywhere you go, you hear stories about abundant fruits in some season because persons lack the technology and the credit facilities that can start a small business from these fruits”.
Singh added that the project seeks to develop the capacity of Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) as well as Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs) to promote information about creating business enterprises.
