Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, late in December, issued an invitation to the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises to begin to submit applications for funding under government’s Grant Fund Facility which is available to qualifying businesses to help build capacity and increase business competitiveness, a recent report in a section of the Port-of-Spain media says.
The report says that the Grant Fund Facility was set up in 2017 and initially intended to help equip the country’s manufacturers and agro-processors with financing with which to increase their productivity, enhance more innovative and high-value products and increase exports of locally produced goods.
In 2019 the authorities expanded the scope of eligible areas for which funding was available to provide additional opportunities for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) involved in the production of high value-added products and services that could hold their own in competitive external markets and consolidate the economy’s diversification pursuits.
Those sectors eligible for funding under the Grant Fund Facility are: financial services, maritime services, aviation services, fishing and fish processing, software design and applications, creative industries, agriculture and agro-processing, and manufacturing. SMEs that currently earn less than TT$15 million annually and have been in operation for a minimum of two years in the designated sectors, can access 50% of the cost of new capital requirements/ expenditure.
Grants have a ceiling of TT$250,000 and do not cover working capital and land and building costs.
The criteria for assessing applicants are based on areas of eligibility, quality and completeness of submitted documentation, export orientation and/or import substitution potential, financial capacity of the business and projected impact of the investment on the economy, including employment generation and foreign exchange earnings.
Assessments are undertaken by a Cabinet-appointed committee chaired by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and comprising representatives from the EXIM Bank, exporTT Limited, and the Ministry of Finance.
Up until now Trinidad and Tobago’s GFF has provided funding for the acquisition of machinery, equipment and software for seventeen successful beneficiaries, which, have facilitated product diversification, and increased production capacity and competitiveness. A total of TT$3.2 million has been disbursed from the fund to companies conducting business operations in: printing and publishing services (1), manufacturing of chocolate and cocoa products (2), manufacturing of gluten free products through agro-processing (1), manufacturing of frozen patties (1), processing of frozen local fruits through agro-processing (1), processing of rice (1), manufacturing of frozen flour based products such as bread and pastries (1), manufacturing of sausages (1), manufacturing of buttermilk and dairy products (1), manufacturing of packaging materials (1), manufacturing of fish feed (1), garment manufacturing (1), manufacturing of beauty and personal care products (1), manufacturing of chemical products, detergents and cleaning items (1), manufacture of vehicle batteries (1), and the development of a software application (1).
The projects of these beneficiaries represent an accumulative investment of approximately TT$$8,589,458.86 between November 2017 and October 2020. In addition to the indirect employment created through the increased economic linkages, these projects have, to date, created permanent and temporary job opportunities.
