Entrepreneurs Crucial Stakeholders to Power Jamaica’s Economic Growth
Prime Minister Andrew Holness says Jamaica’s society and economy cannot grow unless its entrepreneurial class grows.
In this regard, Dr. Holness reaffirmed the government’s strategic focus on empowering Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) to build a more inclusive, resilient, and export-driven economy.
Speaking yesterday (July 15) at the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC) MSME Linkages Day, Prime Minister Holness emphasized that the government is driving a new era of wealth creation led by MSMEs, which he described as the backbone of the Jamaican economy.
“We recommit ourselves to building an economy that works for you, but more important, an economy that works because of you… The Jamaican economy cannot grow unless its entrepreneurial class grows,” he said.
The Prime Minister recalled the devastating legacy of the 1990s financial collapse and the FINSAC intervention, which wiped out thousands of small and medium businesses and eroded the country’s spirit of enterprise for decades.
“It took nearly 30 years for Jamaica to recover from that debt burden. But the greater damage was to our culture of entrepreneurship, where businesses collapsed, generations of family enterprises were lost, and the appetite for risk vanished.”
Prime Minister Holness noted that while the country is still recovering, a resurgence of entrepreneurship is now taking root, and the government is actively nurturing that recovery.
Today, the Government is reversing that legacy through bold and deliberate investments in Jamaica’s entrepreneurs. Over the past nine years, this administration has placed entrepreneurs at the center of national policy, catalyzing enterprise formation and business expansion through targeted interventions. These include the following:
• 17.6 million dollars in grants issued via the MSME Business Road Show, reaching over 2,000 MSMEs across eight parishes
• Nearly 20,000 new businesses registered in the past decade
• Over 9,000 business names and 3,000 companies registered between January and July this year alone
• Digital Jamaica programme training 2,700 MSMEs to thrive in the digital economy
• Export Max initiative supporting 141 businesses to scale up and expand globally
• Nearly $10 billion in loans disbursed to MSMEs via Ex-Im Bank since 2021
• Junior Stock Exchange capitalization surging from $785 million in 2009 to over $148 billion, empowering MSMEs with equity financing and tax incentives
Prime Minister Holness underscored that entrepreneurs are not just business operators, but nation builders, and that the policies are not accidental, but they are deliberate acts of transformation.
“There are those who may not readily see the value of what the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce does in this regard, but we are being very direct, very hands-on in promoting this idea of enterprise, industry, and entrepreneurism,” he said.
Recognizing that growth cannot happen without capital, Dr. Holness said the government is also advancing capital market innovation, simplifying regulations, and ensuring entrepreneurs are not burdened by unnecessary bureaucracy.
“We want a complex economy, not a complicated one. We must declutter, deregulate, and simplify the ecosystem so entrepreneurs can thrive. In this administration, you have a friend, someone who is business-friendly, who understands enterprise, and who will structure policies to ensure that Jamaica will grow,” said the Prime Minister.