Diaspora Entrepreneurship Forum starts this morning

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit will address this morning’s Diaspora Entrepreneurship Forum slated to begin at 10:00 at the Public Service Union building.

The forum, which is organized by the regional integration and diaspora unit of the Ministry of Employment, Trade, Industry and Diaspora Affairs, is expected to attract hundreds of Dominicans based abroad.

The unit’s head, Charles Maynard, will chair the event.

The forum will look at the intervention by the diaspora on projects being pursued locally. The Invest Dominica Authority will spearhead an information session on industries with “great development potential”.

In a statement to the press yesterday, government said it has “long recognized the importance of the Dominican community abroad to Dominica’s overall development.”

Acting Minister for Trade, Industry, Consumer and Diaspora Affairs, Alvin Bernard, will also be present and there will be an opportunity for returning Dominicans to make comments, suggestions and ask questions.

Government has engaged overseas-based nationals through these diaspora entrepreneurship forums since the year 2000. The meetings are regularly held here at home and in cities around the world with significant presence of Dominicans.

Today’s forum will be carried live by all radio stations.

Copyright 2012 Dominica News Online, DURAVISION INC. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.

Disclaimer: The comments posted do not necessarily reflect the views of DominicaNewsOnline.com and its parent company or any individual staff member. All comments are posted subject to approval by DominicaNewsOnline.com. We never censor based on political or ideological points of view, but we do try to maintain a sensible balance between free speech and responsible moderating.

We will delete comments that:

  • contain any material which violates or infringes the rights of any person, are defamatory or harassing or are purely ad hominem attacks
  • a reasonable person would consider abusive or profane
  • contain material which violates or encourages others to violate any applicable law
  • promote prejudice or prejudicial hatred of any kind
  • refer to people arrested or charged with a crime as though they had been found guilty
  • contain links to "chain letters", pornographic or obscene movies or graphic images
  • are off-topic and/or excessively long

See our full comment/user policy/agreement.

14 Comments

  1. Bypedoopy
    December 28, 2010

    Just how much can an agency legally cost you to allow an insurance plan holder out of his car insurance?
    Simply how much does your agency cost when somebody would like to terminate and how much pressure can you use to continue them?
    What are some suggestions or something like that we can say if our customer has several months left on his present car coverage? Surely, all of us are not going to wait until his renewal comes due each and every time.

  2. Queemnewoke
    November 28, 2010

    My inquires are: What amount can an agency legally cost to let an insurance plan holder out of his insurance?
    Just how much does your agency charge when anyone wants to cancel and how much pressure can you use to continue them?
    What are some ideas or something like that we can say if our consumer has many months left on his present auto plan? Undoubtedly, we are not going to hold back until his renewal comes due each time.

  3. abnoratreno
    November 6, 2010

    A candidate is someone who gets money from the rich and votes from the poor to protect them from each other

  4. Free Thinker
    November 2, 2010

    @Zandoli:

    This problem of square pegs in round holes is a common occurance in Dominica. There is a young man with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Sciences who was working at ECU upstairs Fisheries, on Bayfront. Mister was doing a good job going to communities, schools etc. education people about caring for the environment and because of politics, the powers that be never renewed his contract.

    What a shame! And that is how our government expect people to return to serve? They must be mad!

    You could fool some of the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

  5. STUPID COMMENT
    November 2, 2010

    @We need to wake up and fix up: Duh!! what difference does that make? Please make some constructive comments instead of making stupid remarks

  6. ABOLOR
    November 2, 2010

    ZANDOLI I share your concerns. What is the qualifications of the minister sister? We would think that the next level would would mean strong effort to have the right people in areas of importance. This government is no different from past administrations. The concept of square pegs in round holes is the order of the day. Just how do we expect to meet the demands of this 21 century when we keep doing the very same things that kept us behind as a nation. Government come and government go and yet every dog and cat is a minister. Some of them never manage anything – not even their own frigging personal life yet they become general managers because they represent a shoe, fork or a hand. When the PM can openly blame others when he says he requested an estimate 5 years ago and he is yet to receive the estimate . We are talking about the CEO requesting results from his subservient and cannot get results for 5 years – aint that a joke.

    ZANDOLI I guess you may have to play the same cards that the Venezuelan ambassador played. Start blowing the Skerrit horn and you might just get a position . I’m not sure if you will be placed in a position where your qualification and experience could positively impact our country.

  7. Poule Coutouni
    November 2, 2010

    SOME…. of these folk are just here for the PARTY. Meeting with Skerrit is just another Party and good time for them. SOME of them do not have a clue what we have to endure under that corrupt regime. However, I SALUTE the profound and thoughtful Dominicans living overseas – those who have no time for this sham and political stunts put on by Skerrit and his boys!

  8. RIVERS
    November 2, 2010

    I could not beleive my ears when I heard the P.M said that he “could not use the words he wanted to say on radio!!!” This was in response to questions asked about integrity in office and allegations of Villa ownership. Is this who represents Dominica?? He can’t contain his anger and other

    Why hasn’t anyone call him out on this?? This guy is so imature, hot temper and unfit to hold this office.

    This was the very thing this questioneer was asking.

    Dominica is in for some serious beating if this guy is to stay in power.

  9. SERIOUSLY?????????
    November 2, 2010

    I can’t believe that this guy is actually in the forum asking the government about a trini band playing in a D/can event in the states….and about de parkway…. so many more important issues out there!!!! STUPES!!

  10. We need to wake up and fix up
    November 2, 2010

    @Bill:

    You make a lot of valid points, although i do not agree with all of them.

    In this current economic climate where is the money to do all these things going to come from??

  11. Bill
    November 2, 2010

    Meetings held with Dominicans based in the Diaspora while they are visitng Dominica or when Government and/or private sector officials visit them abroad is not a new thing. However, I wish to congratulate the Government of Prime MInister, Honorable Roosevelt Skerrit for continuing this trend of meeting with overseas based Dominicans and updating them on both private and public development projects taking place on the island. The continuing effort by Government to attract the interest of overseas based Dominicans to return and directly invest whether single handedly or in partnership with locally based entrepreneurs in business projects is a commendable move.

    While I applaud Government’s efforts to attract overseas based Dominicans to return home to invest, I do not believe that the enabling envirnoment to do this is attractive enough to seriously get them interested enough to make such a major move. We must appreciate that many of those overseas based Dominicans spent many years working hard and saving their earnings for retirement and do not wish to take any investment risks where they might lose their investments and more so their retirement savings. Government must therefore put in place the necessary mechanisms and employ persons who understands the dynamics of persons who have lived many years overseas, persons who left here by steamship in the 60’s and early 70’s to work for their reitirement. While Many of these people engaged in training for positions in various trades which at the time was their perceived only hope for an job never engaged in taking up higher education. It is therefore very critical to understand the psyche of our older generation of overseas based Nationals since I have seen too many overseas based Nationals to send home their hard earned earnings for projects, whether construction of a retirement home or investment in a business, only to lose it; so they must be reassured that it is safe to invest before they can seriously consider such a move.

    The investment climate must be attractive; by that I mean the regime of fiscal incentives must be competitive enough to want to cause persons based overseas to return home to invest. The infrastructure must be developed in a manner that would want persons to come here to investment. Our roadways/motorways must appear safe to travel on and the roadsides must be always appear clean free of litter and free of grazing animals (cows, donkeys etc). The roadways must also be lighted throughout the island (as they have done in St. Lucia and elsewhere) as this creates an atmosphere of safety and security. The sea ports must be properly developed and the customs, port and allied workers must be equipped to handle ship turn around quickly and efficiently to ensure the safe handling of cargo until it gets to reciever of such cargo. The need for an airport capable of handling long haul flights is also very critical. While we have seen upgrades to the Melville Hall Airport, these developments are 30 years late, and while the airport can handle 737 commercial cargo planes, the airport cannot handle 737 cammercial passenger planes, which would make a big difference for persons flying out of North America (Canada and United States) and the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Travellers still have the inconvenience of changing flights in from a larger plane to good ole LIAT in Antigua, St. Maarten, St Lucia and Barbados, an inconvenience which sometimes cost these travellers lost of baggage and excess expenditure on refreshments while intransit not mentioning the harassment that some travellers face by some airport officials at those HUBS. Therefore an International airport is necessary.

    We have excellent telecommunications but it is still too costly to own and maintain a telephone (landline) and a mobile (cellular) phone in Dominica. Internet and Cable Television service are satisfactory but in recent times the cost of cable tv have become prohibitive to some folks and its interested to note that most of the television are advertising based stations that are free and do not require fees to be paid by customers.

    We have an abundant of water but the quality of our water is very oftern compromised through siltation and by ruptured lines some of which run in drains and are exposed and is cause for contimation from harmful micro organisms. Our sewerage system is likewise in need of upgrading since all the raw sewerage still is dumped into the sea untreated and the question of where the raw sewerage from homes with private septic tanks get dumped when the tanks are emptied by the private sewer companies is cause for concern. I understand that Government is making efforts to improve the quality of drinking water and making efforts to develop a new sewerage system for Portsmouth…but the question that arises is WHEN???

    The cost of electricity is still prohibitive for many people and is one of the single largest expense for entrepresneurs/investors on the island. While there is talk about improvements the reality is that these developments are moving to slowly which in turn slows down the rate of investments.

    The cost of land/real estate is too expensive particularly in relation to the lack of infrastructural development of these lands, location of these lands, and, the real and forced market values of these lands.

    While we have a trained workforce we do have a customer oriented workforce…many people, including managers and propreitors of business do not understand the value of customer service/customer relations to the success of their businesses including the future expansion of their businesses. Many persons getting involved in business also do not understand what it means to make sacrifice and need for reinvesting their profits into their businesses.

    Finally financing for businesses can be troublesome. Not all persons wishing to genuinely invest may have the required capital, and whereas their projects may be viable the fact that they do not have the required capital may prevent them from investing in the manner they ought to in order to ensure the success of the business. In some instances such investments capital fall in the wrong hands of shady investors or are directed in areas that do not have growth potential or in areas that are not appropriately suited for investment (like a hotel development currently under development in the North East).

    In attempting to attract the attention of overseas based Nationals to return home to invest or to establsih business partnerships it must be borne in mind that investments one cash is a very serious consideration and that while all investment has some element of risk taking persons must be guaranteed that when they invest they do not invest in the wrong projects and in the wrong places. That being said I believe it is healthy for the Government to continue to encourage Dominicans living overseas to return home to invest whether in a retirement home or in an enterprise that would add value to the economy.

  12. We need to wake up and fix up
    November 2, 2010

    Why was this not advertised in the schudule of events like last year???

  13. j
    November 2, 2010

    CAN ONE OF YOU VISITING DOMINICANS ASK THE MINISTERS WHY THEY DONT ANSWER THEIR PHONE AFTER ELECTION ESPECIALLY NUMBERS THEY KNOW?

  14. Zandoli
    November 2, 2010

    Well well well… When diaspora return we don’t find jobs here. I have been here aiming to assist with the development of youth in our country for a year and a half. The crime issue is not adequately being addressed by the government having returned here fully qualified in that area to introduce new perspectives and alternatives to facilitate sustainable crime reduction, the minister in the valley gives his sister the job instead…..talk about square peg in round hole.

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

:) :-D :wink: :( 8-O :lol: :-| :cry: 8) :-? :-P :-x :?: :oops: :twisted: :mrgreen: more »

 characters available