Caribbean News
JAMAICA: Research funds to finance entrepreneurial activities
#Kingston, July 12, 2019 – Jamaica – The $200 million allocated by the Government for research is expected to be used to finance business and entrepreneurial programmes at tertiary institutions taking up the offer.
The funds, earmarked in the 2019/20 Budget, are part of the Administration’s thrust to drive entrepreneurship through research and development.
“We will rely on you (tertiary institutions) to run the transparent research application processes,” said Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke.
“We will allocate those funds across the university space in a way that is transparent… and leave it to the universities [supported by] a Memorandum of Understanding [with the Ministry] that is very general,” he added.
He was speaking during the opening ceremony for the Mona School of Business and Management’s (MSBM) fourth business and management conference at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (July 10).
Dr. Clarke noted that entrepreneurship is central to the programmes and activities of several countries whose administrations are focused on enhancing the welfare of their citizens through sustainable economic growth.
Acknowledging Jamaica’s macroeconomic stability and progress to date, he said the Administration is keen on generating high value-added economic activity that is underpinned by innovation that causes “disturbance”.
“This [disturbance] is where somebody is seeing a gap in the market and providing a good or service in a way that is delivering significant value [that], more often than not, comes out of some kind of research,” he noted.
Dr. Clarke said it is against this background that the Administration has earmarked funding for research by tertiary institutions that will spur innovation, thereby driving entrepreneurship.
“That is because we recognise the role research plays in entrepreneurship and development and that we have to have a vision for where we want to get,” he added.
The MSBM’s three-day conference is being held from July 10 to 12 under the theme ‘Delivering on the Promise of Entrepreneurship: Critical Perspectives on Research, Practice and Thinking in the Fourth Economy’.
Contact: Douglas McIntosh
Release: JIS
Photo Caption: Finance and the Public Service Minister, Dr. the Hon, Nigel Clarke (right), is in discussion with University of the West Indies (UWI) Pro-Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs, Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal (left), following the opening ceremony for the Mona School of Business and Management’s (MSBM) three-day business and management conference, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Wednesday (July 10). Listening (from second left) are Country Managing Partner and Tax Partner, Ernst and Young Jamaica, Allison Peart; Conference Chair, Dr. Indianna Minto-Coy; and Special Advisor to the UWI’s Vice Chancellor on Resource Development, Minna Israel.
Mark Bell Photo
KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):
Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.
This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.
“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.
He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).
Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.
“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.
“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.
Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.
Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.
The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.
The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.
NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.
CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON
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