SOCIAL SECTOR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
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SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
CHAPTER 3: NATIONAL SOCIAL SITUATION
B. National Entrepreneurship Development
Company Limited (NEDCO)
The National Entrepreneurship Development
Company Limited (NEDCO) is the implementing
agency for Government’s policy on small and
micro enterprise development, and for the
facilitation of access to funding for business
start-up and the expansion and growth of
existing small enterprises. For Fiscal 2013,
NEDCO has thus far granted 347 loans valued
TT$16,938,557.97. These loans catered for
the advancement of enterprises such as Air
Conditioning, Sales & Services, Auto Care/
Service, Civil Engineering & Construction and
Environment Safety & Health Consulting &
Training Programs. The total number of loans
granted by NEDCO, from inception to present,
amounts to over 11,000, with an estimated value
of TT$285 million.
In 2012, NEDCO signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the University of the West
Indies (UWI) to provide loan financing and other
support services to interested and qualifying
UWI staff, students, and recent graduates. An
on-campus business incubator was established,
as well as entrepreneurial programmes for
students. In June 2013, NEDCO launched its
sub-office at the Student Activities Centre,
UWI, St. Augustine, to strategically forge the
linkage between creativity and thinking and
institutionalised business nurturing and support
for translation into entrepreneurial activity.
NEDCOalsomaintained its support andadvisory
services to existing and potential entrepreneurs,
utilising lectures, workshops, seminars and
other tools. These various strategies as initiated
by NEDCO have collectively engaged over five
thousand (5,000) persons to date.
C. Fair Share Programme
The Fair Share Programme was established to
provide revenue generating opportunities for
Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in order to
offset some natural disadvantages MSEs face
due to limitations of size, resources and access
to information. This Programme increases
accessibility to public sector contracts by
facilitating an online linkage between MSEs
and Government Ministries, Departments
and Agencies. The programme attempts to
encourage entrepreneurship and employment,
promote capacity building through training
and development and provide opportunities for
mini-micro, micro and small enterprises to grow.
The benchmarked accomplishments of the Fair
Share Programme, for 2013 include:
• Issued Letters of Approval to 14 Government
institutions, granting access to Fair Share
for procurement opportunities in areas not
covered by the Annual Supplies Listing from
Central Tenders Board;
• Issued 347 Full Certificates, as proof of
eligibility for accessing Fair share;
• Issued 382 Provisional Certificates to
potential MSEs as they progress further into
the verification stages of the processing of
applications;
• Maintained 800 existing MSE Registrants
• Entered 313 new MSE Registrants into the
programme;
• Hosted three focus sessions, in conjunction
with Cipriani College of Labour and
Cooperative Studies (CCLCS), geared
towards the formulation of the training
component of the FairShare Programme.
D. Promoting Green Jobs and Green
Enterprises in Trinidad and Tobago
Keeping with efforts towards the development
of a Green Enterprise Policy, in 2013, the
Ministry also accessed European Union (EU)
funding for the engagement of a consultancy
for the creation of a Green Enterprise Policy for
the MSE sector. The policy aims to serve as a
cross ministerial instrument for the support of
MSEs involved in green activities and is intended
to provide a framework for determining the
level of “greenness in enterprises” in Trinidad
