PSOJ President Keith Duncan - Gleaner file photo
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Keith Duncan
The Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) has approached financial institutions on behalf of Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) to help them weather the COVID-19 crisis.
PSOJ President Keith Duncan said 70 per cent of workers in Jamaica are employed through MSMEs.
While Mr. Duncan acknowledged the aid being provided by the Government to small businesses, in the form of grants, he said there are many more in need of assistance to ensure that they bounce back post COVID-19.
"Do they know how to engage their commercial banks? Do they know how to engage their landlords during this crisis? And the PSOJ has been thinking through how do we prepare the SME; what is a checklist of things that they need to go through in order to prepare themselves for minimising the fallout as much as possible," he asserted.
Mr. Duncan said MSMEs are also being taught, through a newly launched programme accessible on Facebook, how to use technology to ensure their business continues.
He said discussions are also ongoing with micro finance lending institutions to ensure that they stay afloat and are able to help their clients.
Some commercial banks have announced initiatives to ease the financial burden on their customers by relaxing their policies on fees and credit card payments.
Mr. Duncan was speaking Thursday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica programme.
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