A two-day awareness session aimed at equipping small businesses/contractors to better bid for government contracts started today at the Critchlow Labour College.
The Small Business Bureau (SBB) which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Business is facilitating the awareness sessions.
Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin
Minister of Finance Winston Jordan, had announced in the 2017 budget that 20 percent of government contracts would be awarded to small businesses or small contractors. This seminar will serve to strengthen the procurement system by making small contractors more responsive, and to have more of them onboard.
Additionally the seminar’s stakeholders will draft a mechanism so that the SBB can report to the Ministry of Business with respect to value, numbers and how they can tap into the procurement system.
Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin said the government is the biggest spender in the country and it is important that the money is spent in a way that provides the maximum economic impact and fair opportunity for all types of businesses. He highlighted that the process is not an easy one noting that, “it is a very complicated because taxpayers still need to get value for their dollars.” Minister Gaskin said that products and services need to be competitively priced, of high quality and delivered in a timely manner.
The Business Minister said that he is aware that it is difficult for small businesses to be competitive with the big companies which are experienced in the procurement process and enjoying the economies of scale that allow them to offer a better price than the small businesses.
Minister Gaskin told the participants that the law states that 20 percent of government procurement contracts need to go to small businesses, and the government must now “gear how to give effect to that law.”
“It is not an easy task, and it will take a government that is fully committed to the well-being of our small businesses to make that happen. It has never happened before, but we are going to make it happen; it requires patience, it requires cooperation and it requires a lot of preparation,” Minister Gaskin said.
Participants during today’s sessions of the awareness seminar
The Business Minister said currently there is no system that measures how much of government procurement goes to small businesses. There also needs to be a system that will compensate for the disadvantages of small businesses when they are competing with big companies, which the Minister noted is currently being worked on. Small and medium businesses form an important part in the country’s private sector and do contribute significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and to economic growth, Minister Gaskins said.
“This is not a sector in the economy that we can ignore or abandon,” Minister Gaskin highlighted.
The Business Minister said that small businesses need an enabling business environment in which to develop. He highlighted that they need financing, and training, opportunities, as well as incentives.