The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

THE Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation's (BCCEC) chief executive yesterday urged the Government to prioritise passing the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Bill left behind by the former Ingraham administration, saying this was "vital" to creating jobs and turning the economy around.

Emphasising that the BCCEC was "looking forward" to working with the newly-elected Christie government to move the Bill forward, Winston Rolle said he was confident it would "definitely impact" the 90 per cent of Bahamas-based companies classified as small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs).

"We'd still like them [the Government] to move forward with the SME legislation, and hope they will do that shortly," Mr Rolle told Tribune Business.

"It should be right up there if we're talking about turning the economy around. It has to be a key element of their strategy. We're confident that it definitely provides the impact needed to help small business development in the country."

Mr Rolle said all parties involved in the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Bill's drafting - the Government, BCCEC and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) - had signed-off on the legislation, but it became caught up in the election cycle.

He added that funding from Compete Caribbean, an arm of the IDB, together with financing from the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA), the European Union (EU) and government monies, had been allocated to undertake a study that would define a 'small business' in the Bahamian context.

A 'small business mapping' exercise was also due to be undertaken, along with an assessment of these companies' needs and opportunities, while the funding would also have been used to set up the Small Business Development Agency (SMEDA) - the agency designed to operate and oversee the legislation's implementation.

Mr Rolle described the Bill's legislative enactment as "very, very vital, especially when you consider where we are as an economy and need to promote more economic activity.

"There aren't sufficient existing jobs out there, so we need to create more businesses or expand existing businesses to provide more employment opportunities."

The BCCEC chief executive, meanwhile, said the Government's plans to revive the Bahamas Development Bank (BDB) as a major lender and investor in small businesses were consistent with what the Bill wanted for SMEDA.

"One of the things we were very careful of with the design of this agency was that it was to help and build businesses, and not to get into the business of lending," Mr Rolle explained.

"Providing guarantees would be more the role SMEDA plays, once it's identified that the business has done what it needs to do to improve its opportunities for success."