Small Business Owners to Benefit from UNDP Initiative

Local small business owners who will be participating in a United Nations Development Program training initiative have received documents to officially mark the occasion.

On Thursday morning The Ministry of Tourism hosted a ceremony at its conference room to hand over a memorandum of understanding to the participants.

Tourism Research Officer at the Ministry of Tourism, Teres Ambrose Versailles said the programme which was held in collaboration with the Caribbean Development bank and other institutions aimed to help small businesses recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“They had the business adaptation programme.  It was basically online and invited persons from around the region to sign up and basically retool themselves in a way that will help them maneuver in this new era.  This time around we have the second cohort receiving the Memorandum of Understanding.  Basically, it is a document that outlines what their responsibilities are, the responsibilities of the Ministry of Tourism, and what they should do once they get the finance to improve their business,” she said.

She noted that the participants will be receiving funds to reshape their businesses as well.

“When they signed up they signed up with the understanding that they were not supposed to receive a grant.  But seeing the potential of the group the UNDP group decided to petition the Caribbean Development Bank and they procured some funds for them amounting to just about 31/32 thousand ED dollars, which were distributed among the recipients.  We have recipients from St. Kitts and Nevis,” she said.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Tivanna Wharton said government remains committed to providing assistance for small business owners.

“Coming out of the pandemic and being thrusted into recovery mode we know the importance of providing these opportunities and grants for our citizens.  And so, we will continue to partner with external agencies as we seek to help to improve our small business owners here in St. Kitts and Nevis,” she said.

Participants of the 2022 UNDP program received training in Digital Technologies, Financial Planning, and Marketing via virtual classes conducted by the University of the West Indies and the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management.

Six persons are taking part this year.  3 from St. Kitts and 3 from Nevis.
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