Opening the 2008/09 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representative on May 13, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Karl Samuda has informed that the Jamaica Business Development Centre (JBDC) would establish four full service development centres. These centres are slated to be opened in Portland, Manchester, Westmoreland, and St. Ann. Mr. Samuda said that these centres would provide young entrepreneurs with good ideas, access to all aspects of business, marketing and management at the parish level.

The Industry Minister  pointed out that “Our strategy is to provide information and a wide range of business development services to new and existing entrepreneurs who are struggling because of a lack of resources, to allow them to stabilize themselves and create jobs,"

Mr. Samuda also informed that over time, Business Information Centres (BICs) would be established in each parish, which would allow existing and new micro entrepreneurs to receive assistance in developing their businesses. Moreover, it would prevent persons from venturing to Kingston for business advice.

The Minister noted that the BIC programme has provided support for over 1,750 medium, small and micro enterprises (MSMEs), and that the initiative is estimated to provide support to an additional 2,500 MSMEs in the first year of implementation.

"While the JBDC must continue to support its existing clients, my real interest is in the support provided to new clients. Consequently, I will be tracking the number of new or incremental clients supported and the type of support provided. These business information centres will enable the JBDC to expand and to reach new clients," he pointed out.

Source- The Jamaica Information Service