The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) has congratulated Empretec Guyana on its 10th anniversary, while recommitting to sustaining their partnership.
Empretec is a fellow “business support organisation” rooted in the pursuit of growth and capacity building of Micro and Small Scale Enterprises (MSCEs), the GMSA said in a press release. Over the past 10 years, it added, Empretec has nurtured the corporate growth of its members through a series of interventions, including human resource development; capacity building and corporate management and productivity improvement, all with special emphasis on the development of women in business.
Empretec Guyana has its genesis in a 2003 GMSA meeting where the association’s executive took a decision to deepen its focus on Small Business Development, with a view to placing MSCEs on a better structured and more coherent path of development, individually and in clusters.
“The ultimate objective was to develop small scale enterprises into viable entities that could contribute to the national economy,” the GMSA said. In keeping with this, the GMSA applied to the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) through the local UNDP office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, for formal acceptance into the international Empretec programme which is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland with numerous satellites worldwide.
UNDP/UNIDO granted the GMSA’s request and a three-year contract was signed resulting in the establishment of a viable Empretec Secretariat in Guyana. A corps of professional trainers soon emerged, benefiting continuously from focused training programmes led by International Empretec experts. Today, the corps of trainers can replicate the training and developmental programmes throughout the micro and small business community in Guyana.
Over the past six years, Empretec has been functioning as an independent affiliate of the GMSA, equipped with its own secretariat and board. Its managing director, Judy Semple-Joseph continues to serve in an executive capacity at the GMSA.
The also GMSA said it is committed to supporting its partnership with Empretec and will ensure that it continues to be represented in its programmes both in country and externally.
