Small Business Bureau still to produce comprehensive report on stewardship

Members of staff of the Small Business Bureau. Seated at centre is the Bureau’s recently appointed Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lowell Porter

Almost four years after the then President of Guyana, Donald Ramotar, launched the Small Business Bureau at the International Convention Centre in October 2013, the state-run small business support agency is yet to place a comprehensive report on its stewardship.

While the Bureau has, from time to time, provided the media with insights into aspects of its work with the local small business community, it has been unable, up until now, to produce a holistic report that would allow for a proper assessment of the extent of its impact on the small business sector.

The Bureau is still in the process of implementing a US$5 million project aimed at enhancing access to training and financing for small businesses. Named the Micro and Small Enterprise Development Project (MSED), funding is provided through the Guyana REDD+ Investment Fund (GRIF), a mechanism created for the financing of activities identified under the Government of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS).