Money available for businesses, says Chamber

It’s a little known programme with big bucks to assist business people in the African, Caribbean, and Pacific block of nations. And today PROINVEST, through its local counterpart, the Belize Chamber of Commerce, hosted a seminar to explain to local entrepreneurs how to access the project’s money. According to the Chamber’s Director of Membership Services, Deanna Peyrefitte, the fund does not provide seed money to new companies, but assists existing businesses that meet certain criteria.

Deanna Peyrefitte, Manager, Trade & Membership Services

“PROINVEST funding is a hundred and ten million Euros over a seven year period. And there is no specific amount allotted to any particular country, it’s based on the type of project that you apply for, and each type of project has a limit as to the amount of funding you can actually get for that project. It’s basically on a first come first serve basis. Individual organisations can’t just apply for the funding, they have to have worked through an intermediary organisation and have attended what PROINVEST calls partnership meetings. And I know that the first that they have planned for the Caribbean is one for tourism, which we will publicise as we get more information. But it’s planned for Jamaica in October 2004.”

The fourteen participants in today’s seminar will now return to their respective organizations to work on identifying projects that qualify for funding under the PROINVEST programme. Peyrefitte says that so far only Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic have accessed the fund.