Exporters in the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector received valuable information on the key area of 'Financing for Innovative Export Projects' during the first technical assistance session of the ExportPlus programme being facilitated by JAMPRO in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) FINPYME initiative held at the offices of JAMPRO on November 13.

The technical assistance session was well attended by members of the SME community and was moderated by Professor Rosalea Hamilton. Presentations were made on 'Innovating for Sustainability and Competitiveness' by Dr Horace Williams, 'Developing a Winning Financial Proposal' by Rennie Clarke of NCB, 'Group Presentations & Feedback' from JAMPRO's Marlene Porter, 'Funding Windows for SMEs presented by Valerie Crawford of the EXIM Bank and a closing presentation by Professor Hamilton on 'Pitfalls to Avoid in Financing Innovations'.

future development

Professor Hamilton in her opening remarks lauded the importance of the export sector to the future development of the country saying, "Exporters are the saviors of Jamaica." To reinforce the role of banks and credit unions as facilitators in the export sector, members of financial institutions such as the Exim Bank, Pan Caribbean, Scotia Bank Jamaica, National Commercial Bank and the First Heritage Cooperative Credit Union were all in attendance.

During the session the attendees were taken through the steps of preparing financial proposals and reminded how critical adequate record keeping is needed when applying for financing. The exporters also had the opportunity to interact with the financial institutions and make suggestions on how the banks and credit unions can better serve the export community.

financial institutions

An exporter who attended the technical assistance session said, "Overall it was an excellent session, let's all make these talks and discussions materialise. Let's pull the country out of this ditch." Another exporter believed it was a good idea to have exporters meet with financial institutions and they learnt a number of lessons from the session. An attendee added, "If the banks and credit unions live up to what they say then this session will serve a purpose."

An initiative of the Inter-American Investment Corporation, a collaborating arm of the IDB, the FINPYME ExportPlus programme is significantly funded by the Government of Korea and provides technical assistance to exporters in 17 countries throughout the Caribbean. The programme was launched in Jamaica in October with the objectives to assist SMEs with building export readiness; improving market access; increasing the performance and exports; and providing development support and assistance to SMEs.