A contingent of 7 officials representing Government, the small business sector and the wider private-sector, left the island yesterday as part of a Study Tour to Europe, to learn of the international best practices used by European Intermediary Organisations (IOs). The trip is another phase of a Pro€Invest-funded project, Promoting the Economic Development through European and Caribbean Partnership (PED), and is designed to enhance the competencies of key personnel within the participating organisations, in an effort to better serve their constituents.
Traveling to Spain, Greece, Italy and Belgium before returning to Barbados on May 14, the group will visit various IOs engaged in SME development, and the Headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. It is anticipated that the various sessions will permit participants to fully experience the features and regulations of the European Market and to pave the way for future collaboration with the hosting business support organisations.
The project which started in 2008, has as a key objective, the institutional strengthening of Caribbean business support organisations to better deliver relevant and rewarding product offerings to clients and members. To date several one-week capacity building workshops have been held in Belize, the Dominican Republic and Barbados on topics ranging from foreign direct investment, internationalisation of SMEs, accessing funding & project management and data collection & analysis. The Barbados Small Business Association (BSBA), the only business support organisation from the Eastern Caribbean, seized the opportunity to partner with other local agencies to provide the opportunity for the training of key staff.
CEO of the BSBA, Ms Lynette Holder, remark that the project has not only been beneficial to her institution but has provided the opportunity for staff of the Ministry of Tourism, BYBT, COB, the BSCI and the Rural Development Commission to hone their skills in key development areas, which will redound to the benefit of their institutions.
Those participating in the study tour include representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries, Industry and Small Business Development, the City of Bridgetown Credit Union, the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries and staff of the BSBA.
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