The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will be hosting consultations with two key groups of stakeholders aimed at strengthening operations of consultancy groups and creating stronger linkages, during its Annual Board of Governors meetings in Georgetown this week.
A Stakeholders’ Network consultation will be held at the Princess Hotel from today to Wednesday, May 28, followed by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) consultations on Thursday, May 29 and Friday, May 30, 2014, the CDB said in a press release. The MSME consultations will see 30 small and medium sized enterprises in Guyana learning about the experiences of their counterparts in other Caribbean territories as well as CDB support which could strengthen their businesses.
“This is part of CBD’s strategic objective of supporting inclusive growth and sustainable development and its corporate priorities of promoting private sector development leading to enhanced viability of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises,” the press release said.
The sessions will be moderated by the CDB’s Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services (CTCS). Sixteen representatives from key CTCS Cooperating Institutions (CIs) from across the Caribbean will join 15 counterpart CI representatives from Guyana to exchange ideas geared towards fostering stronger linkages.
“The consultations are expected to contribute to enhancing the operations of the CTCS Network, as part of efforts aimed at ensuring that the programme remains relevant to the needs of MSMEs while taking into account CDB’s Special Development Fund and Gender Equality Policy and Strategy requirements,” said Kenneth Harvey, CTCS Coordinator.
Over the three days of consultations, participants will engage in discussions and exchange of experiences and ideas in a number of areas including the integration of gender equality in all CTCS network activities, the establishment of a standardised Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism for effectively benchmarking and monitoring CTCS interventions, increased participation and input by Local Cooperating Institutions (LCIs) in the design, preparation and oversight of proposed national CTCS activities and requests for direct Technical Assistance by MSMEs, the identification and development of a more diverse network of available resource institutions, private enterprises and resource persons in Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) to support the exchange of technical and business knowhow within each BMC and across BMCs.
The Institute of Private Enterprise and Development (IPED) one of the CTCS’s long-standing members,
will provide on-the-ground support and logistics for mobilising the local CIs for the three-day stakeholders consultation as well as two separate groups of 15 MSMEs, one for each of the two-day MSME consultations which is aimed at extending the range of effective CTCS coverage in Guyana IPED will also organise local site visits as part of the MSME consultations.
According to the press statement, CTCS is a network operated in cooperation with regional and national institutions, laboratories, industrial enterprises and consultations to support the development and expansion of the Region’s MSME sector. “It contributes to the stimulation of entrepreneurship, while at the same time enhancing the competitiveness of the Region’s productive sector through capacity building and skills transfer,” the press release said.
Along with Guyana, the other countries that are participating in the consultations are Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
