Hill tells small firms to get ready for NaRRA reconstruction contracts

Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, says micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are well placed to gain from work expected under the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA).

Addressing the New Testament Church of God Kingdom Builders Business Expo in Old Harbour, St. Catherine on Saturday (July 11), he pressed owners to put their houses in order now—formalising their businesses and lining up to furnish goods and services for large infrastructure jobs.

“NaRRA is going to deal with huge contracts, billion-dollar contracts. They’re going to deal with big contractors, many of them from overseas. So where does the MSME come in? You must get registered and be ready to make sure you serve those big contractors,” he said.

“All of those contractors, they’re going to need trucking service. They’re going to need taxi service… I don’t care where they come from, they have to eat. So, we provide the food for them, because that’s not what they do. We provide services sometimes that need to employ people. We can go find the people, all that is part of NaRRA for the MSMEs,” he added.

Hill pointed to expected multi-billion-dollar investment over the coming years, which he said would open rare openings for local firms.

“We already know that we’re going to spend about US$6.5 billion that the World Bank, International Monetary Fund [IMF] and the rest handed us. But we’re going to have to spend more than that, maybe up to $20 billion in the next five to seven years…this is your opportunity,” the Minister stated.

He also stressed how central MSMEs are to national output, noting that “they are the backbone of this economy, estimated to account for more than 97 per cent of all registered taxpaying enterprises in this country, employing most of our workforce, between 60 and 70 per cent, and generating a significant share of the gross domestic product of this country.”

Among state-backed supports he flagged were financing via the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and the National Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Micro Market, and a Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) scheme backed by the European Union to help MSMEs move operations online. He also urged business owners to adopt innovation and technology to raise productivity and reach overseas buyers.