FINANCE & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR MSMEs
Access to finance is and has always been the vulnerable spot of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The National Export Strategy of Saint Lucia identified Access to Finance as one of the key area to be addressed to allow companies to improve their export capacity, citing it as “one of the most important constraints on MSME growth world-wide”.
COVID-19 has increased this challenge as these small enterprises hit by zero cash flow due to the national lockdowns, must now identify the funding necessary to finance capital expenditure and working capital requirements for resuming business post COVID-19.
Ever cognizant of these difficulties which our MSMEs battle daily and especially now, Export Saint Lucia sought to identify funding institutions and donor agencies which have responded with financial and technical assistance solutions at this time. These agencies will present on the opportunities which are available to small enterprises to help them to rebound and adapt.
Export Saint Lucia will host a webinar entitled Finance & Technical Assistance for MSMEs on Monday June 8, 2020 from 10 a.m. -11 a.m. The goal of this webinar is to improve MSMEs’ ability to access finance available to them from funding institutions and donor agencies.
Presenters
- Caribbean Export Development Agency – Dr Jeanelle Murray Noel, Access to Finance Advisor
- Caribbean Development Bank– Ms. Lisa M. Harding, MBA, BSc., Coordinator, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development
- Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission – Ricardo James, Technical Specialist – Export Development, Competitive Business Unit
Moderator- Lisa Evans, Executive Assistant, Export Saint Lucia, and a CEDR Accredited Mediator and Conflict Resolution Specialist.
OBJECTIVES
- To provide reliable information to MSMEs on the opportunities for funding and sustaining their businesses post COVID-19
- To improve the ease with which MSMEs are able to access available funding
- To increase the number of MSMEs applying for and receiving available funding from the presenting funding institutions and donor agencies
