Castries, Saint Lucia: Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, remarked that his administration continues to provide direct assistance to Medium and Small Enterprises in this country to create sustainable livelihoods.
Through his official Facebook account, PM J. Pierre informed that his administration just completed the first round of calls for applications.
The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia highlights that he looks forward to more business owners benefitting from this 70% grant and 30% loan [3% interest rate] facility.
He appreciated the efforts of the Ministry of Commerce for their dedication to this venture and encouraged them to continue serving the people of Saint Lucia.
The Government of Saint Lucia has secured 10 Million XCD from the Caribbean Developments Bank’s special Development fund 10th cycle Loan facility to material this loan policy to support small businesses. It was officially launched on March 16, 2023.
Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre brought the concept of the MSME loan grant facility in 2021. Since its official launch, multiple business starters have benefited from it, starting their business and making significant growth.
Under this scheme, new business starters and qualified entrepreneurs can get up to 10,000 XCD. Eligible businesses operating for more than a year or less than two years can grant up to 20,000 XCD to further extend their businesses.
The business operators running their firms for more than two years can access up to 25,000 XCD.
On his social media account, PM J. Pierre shared the video of a local business starter who extended her business by benefiting from this loan scheme.
Her name is Natasha Bascom, and she created C-pops, a sweet available in three flavours- Cherry, Cinamon and Coffee. She uses a small machine to produce this item, which is not enough to fulfil the requirements of the local market.
With this loan scheme introduced by PM J. Pierre, Natasha bought another machine to produce C-pops, and now it was supplied to seventeen markets.
She thanked the Government of Saint Lucia and PM J Pierre, with whom she could fulfil the required stock and grow her business.