PSOJ holds SME empowerment workshop

• November 27 2019
• http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/business-observer/psoj-holds-sme-empowerment-workshop_180729

The Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Access to Finance Facilitation Panel (AFFP) kicked off their Workshop 2A on Friday, November 22 at the Scotiabank Training Centre in Kingston.

The Partnership for SME Empowerment workshop focused on the technical aspects of shifting the financial ecosystem. Chief executive officers, loan originators, credit risk specialists, regulators, credit bureaus, Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), and Ministry of Industry, Commrce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF) were in attendance to determine the next steps to unlocking small an medium-sized benterprised (SME 's) untapped financial potential.

The ultimate goal of the AFFP, which is to create products, solutions, platforms and processes that are “fit for purpose” acted as a basis for the day's discussion which covered the financial spectrum.

“We cannot take outdated, non-performing laws, processes and approaches into this new decade,” said Keith Duncan, president of the PSOJ. “We have a golden opportunity for a paradigm shift that will have a ripple effect, one that will be experienced for decades to come.”

Topics up for discussion included the electronic registry, credit bureaus as ecosystem enablers, the DBJ's credit enhancement facility, ways of re-thinking the credit adjudication process, the new Institute of Chartered Accountants Jamaica (ICAJ) support programme, receivables purchase and seasonal cash flow financing as well as the DBJ's reverse factoring platform update.

“As Jamaica's largest indigenous financial institution, we understand the value of creating an enabling environment in Jamaica for businesses to thrive,” stated chief executive officer of major sponsor, NCB, Septimus 'Bob' Blake, who endorsed the initiative. “At a system level, we will play our part by addressing things like credit application and decision-making, fulfillment and disbursement, monitoring and collections, simplifying regulations and policy, and finally capacity, capability building and formality.”

This national multi-stakeholder initiative, with the ultimate objective of enabling expansion of financing to the SME sector, took a holistic approach in contemplating how financial institutions can address structural, policy, capability and knowledge barriers to financing.