A second Rural Business Enterprise Center was launched on Thursday, March 31st 2016 in the community of Paix Bouche.
Wednesday March 30th, saw the launching of the first Rural Business Enterprise Center for the indigenous people, more specifically Sineku in the Kalinago Territory.
Government, through the Ministry of Commerce, Enterprise and Small Business Development is actively creating an environment which supports, strengthens and promotes business development, especially in rural Dominica hence the development of the Rural Business Enterprise Center Model in rural communities.
At the opening ceremony of the centre, the Hon Parliamentary Representative for the Paix Bouche Constituency and Minster for Commerce Enterprise and Small Business Development, Roselyn Paul, noted that this venture is all part of Government’s push to develop entrepreneurship in Dominica.
She described her hope for the center and reminded participants of the program that they are not alone.
“The training was just the first phase. There will be continuous support and further training that will help equip you to graduate from the incubator into your own business.”
The Hon. Minister assures nationals that her ministry will see the center fully utilized.
“We will continue to persevere with this initiative, to transform this enterprise centre to yield full-fledged businessmen and women.”
She listed ICT related businesses like graphics, research, word processing and other services usually available at internet cafés.
The Hon. Minister for Trade, Energy and Employment, Ian Douglas represented the Hon. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit at the event.
“Our primary purpose as a Government is to change lives for the better; to make a positive impact on the citizens of the Commonwealth of Dominica. We always say that if our policies and programmes do not result in better persons in Dominica, then we are not fulfilling our mandate as a Government,” he said.“So I’m very happy to be here [at the opening] because that’s what we are trying to do. All the programmes which we try to implement especially this one is to empower citizens of Dominica…so that you can go out here and generate revenue and create employment for yourselves.”
Hon. Douglas, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Portsmouth, noted that the programme’s main aim is to help citizens contribute to overall economic development.
The Hon. Minister assured that this is just the beginning for rural communities in Dominica.
The centre is outfitted with computers and a food dehydrator.
Business incubators and initiatives like this Business Enterprise Centers are great ideas to spur new businesses. Everyone keeps talking about a lack employment opportunities so why can’t we support a move in the right direction? If the government does nothing, you criticize. If the government does something, you criticize. So what do you really want?
This is yet another DLP brainchild that will cost quite some money but isn’t going to yield anything. Has any of these enterprise centres a start-up specialist attached to it that does not only mentor the people on an ongoing basis but also assesses the people in as far a suitability and specific knowledge in their field is concerned. Do they have to present business plans over a period of at least 3 years? I suspect the answer is no. To me this all sounds: setting something up that has not been thought through properly but rather indulges people’s dreams. Dreams does not equal successful business!
hmmm