The Criteria to Access Benefits from MSME Enhancement Programme

Leroy Almendarez

In the second phase of the programme, countrywide consultations will be held with entrepreneurs on steps that must be taken for successful applications. The Small Business Development Centre, an arm of BELTRAIDE will furnish entrepreneurs with all their business needs, says BELTRAIDE Executive Director, Doctor Leroy Almendarez. 

Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE

“If you don’t have a TIN number, then you still have to go register for a TIN number. So GST is important. When it comes to Customs, Customs will do the clearance through the ASYCUDA system. And so you will have a list of products; through our Small Business Development Centre, you will come in and make a determination of what it is that you want to import. And once we look at that, the number, you have to involve the customs broker, the process should be seamless. The process should not be a case where an MSME gets frustrated and so that will make life much easier. There must be a historical footprint on how much you have been imported and the number of inputs that you use. So initially you would have to give us some idea…what’s the quota of the number of these products that I would normally import, if you are micro, small or medium and then based on that we can track you over time because what we want to see is micro grow to small and we wanna see small grow to medium. And if small grows to medium, then it simply means that you are transitioning and growing and by that we are expanding the economy.”