FEATURE ADDRESS THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF LABOUR AND SMALL AND MICRO ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ERROL MCLEOD

Transcription

1 DraD REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO FEATURE ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF LABOUR AND SMALL AND MICRO ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ERROL MCLEOD At The Official Launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) Hosted by The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and the Youth Business of Trinidad and Tobago (YBTT) On the theme Starting Tomorrow s Business Today At the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain 8:00 am 1

2 Ms. Ramona Ramdial, Honourable Minister of State in the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development; Mr. Richard Young, Chairman of Youth Business Development; Mr. Curtis Manchoon, Chairman of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT); Dr. Denise Thompson, Professor of the Centre for Production Systems UTT; Ms. Penny Gomez, Communications Manager of DIGICEL; Mrs. Gloria Rolingson, General Manager of YBTT Master of Ceremonies; Directors of YBTT; YBTT mentors, young entrepreneurs and students; UTT students; Other students. Members of the Media. 2

3 Your presence today is indicative of your desire for change in our country. And I mean real change! Change that is fundamental to the needs of real people- the youth of Trinidad and Tobago. You have gathered here- I imagine all of you must understand that that being your own employer is a viable alternative to working for someone else. And to many of you, this represents a transformation from being fed a fish everyday to being the one who catches the fish. In my capacity as Minister of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development, I maintain that there is a clear and urgent need to stimulate a more favourable development climate to young citizens. Encouraging business ownership is an important and credible way toward achieving that goal. Therefore, entrepreneurism must continue to be promoted as a feasible career path to a wider cross-section of young people. 3

4 And those of us not so young and occupying positions of authority and influence must provide the enabling environment which will facilitate such growth. Many of you would have witnessed the global economic downturn that climaxed in You would have had close relatives and friends lose their jobs or experience great frustrations in sourcing one. You would have also noticed how dubious the present global economic climate can be to young men and women. However, you may have also observed the Government s aggressive thrust toward creating a credible Micro and Small (MSE) enterprise sector. Last month, my Ministry s Enterprise Development Division (E.D.D.) launched the National Integrated Business Incubator System (IBIS). Its mission is to enhance economic development in communities 4

5 and also to facilitate the progressive growth of the MSE industry in Trinidad and Tobago through entrepreneurs. Who is an entrepreneur? In its simplest form, an entrepreneur is defined as a person who organizes, operates and assumes the risk for a business venture. It comes from an Old French word entreprendre, meaning to undertake. Therefore as young entrepreneurs you have undertaken the challenge to grow into being independent and successful. And you know that I don t have to tell you that these do not happen automatically. Luck favours the few! Hardwork, diligence, sticking to it however, assures sustainability and benefit. It is American poet H.W. Longfellow who reminds us that The heights by great men and women reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept were toiling upward in the night. 5

6 And neither should you be scared of your inexperience. You ll never get it if you didn t try; if you didn t have an opportunity. Indeed, in our country there still lingers the general assumption that older heads make for better business owners because they already have practical experience, collateral and credit history. Yet, we have witnessed the blessings from the efforts of our own recent history in the person of our own Anya Ayoung Chee who has proven that age is no barrier to achieving greatness. Nevertheless, committing yourself to the world of entrepreneurship requires diligence, tenacity and commitment. If you are serious about becoming future business men and women, you must devote a significant amount of time to it. As young citizens, you are arguably the most technologically savvy and most educated generation in our country s history. 6

7 Certainly you have more opportunity to create and develop businesses than previous generations. Yet to impress investors, the young entrepreneur has to be familiar enough with the mechanics of his business, and talk proficiently about the industry he serves as well as what measures have been taken to accomplish his goals, as investors are not only looking for traction but social validation of each prospective enterprise. As a stakeholder in labour, it is critical for the Ministry to examine and mitigate the constant challenges encountered by young businesspeople. The Ministry also seeks to unearth the reasons that more youth opt not to become entrepreneurs. According to an October 2011 Ernst & Young report, Entrepreneurs speak out, the key to a global economic recovery is to support these entities, particularly those run by 7

8 young people as they create jobs, build economies and nurture communities. It further recommends that there should be more specific education programmes dedicated to entrepreneurship. This will serve to encourage young students to identify market opportunities and valid career options. It argues that businessfocused education should start as early as primary schools, to universities and business schools but also to professionals moving from corporate roles to their own ventures. The recent launch of the Ministry s IBIS programme combines entrepreneurship and business innovation to facilitate easier means for young citizens such as you to have access to capital sources, expert advice and mentoring. These policies would recognize and address the unprecedented demographic and 8

9 economic challenges our nation faces, in particular youth unemployment. However, a major key to the success of youth entrepreneurship is going to be strategic investment by the private sector to improve the quality of the start-up environment. The time is now for an unprecedented initiative in business-owner education to reduce the youth unemployment rates. Without such an initiative, we risk losing the present and successive generations to long-term structural unemployment. Most of our national education efforts seek to teach youth to become better workers, yet entrepreneurship education is an innovative way to simultaneously teach our youth and provide concrete incentives for economic stability. The Ministry s philosophy for promoting MSE sustainability suggests that anyone can start a business and use it to create wealth. It also makes young people more employable because by running 9

10 their own small businesses, they consciously learn how to manage an operation. This shift in viewpoint can immeasurably benefit the overall psyche of labour in our country. This week is the culmination of the recognition that the youth of this country will steer our economy on the road to a more sustainable development. Do not underestimate the important task that has been presented to you today. You are the gatekeepers of our country s innovation and productivity. On your shoulders rests the opportunity for the MSE industry in Trinidad and Tobago to become the standard for development in our region. I invite you fellow citizens to start tomorrow s business today. Thank you and May God richly bless our Nation. 10