Investors urged to support small business sector
PRESIDENT OF the Small Business Association of Jamaica Hugh Johnson is warning against ignoring the value of the small business sector and its importance in fuelling a strong and sustainable economic growth.
He told The Gleaner that while the signs suggest that the country is on the right economic path, the sector is still largely being ignored by investors, who opt i nstead f or big-name companies in which to put their investments.
“The trajec tor y, by all accounts, gives the impression we are on the right path, but in this improving economy, the small-business sector is being ignored,” Johnson said.
The Jamaican economy grew by 1.1 per cent for the October-December 2017 quarter, the strongest quarterly growth for the 2017 calendar year, while real GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.5 per cent, representing the fifth consecutive year of GDP growth.
But in spite of those trends, Johnson pointed out that it was mostly relative growth and that wages, which is a critical part of the economic landscape, remained flat or frozen in some instances.
“These elements on their own mean that the kind of high-level and sustainable growth rates, which we all would like to see, is just not happening. And this is because, for the most part, there has not been much push to revitalise the small-business sector,” he said.
He stressed that a level playing field must be carefully crafted to give small-business owners more latitude for expansion, where jobs will be created and wages are raised to satisfy the needs of individuals.