SELA HELD IN JAMAICA SEMINAR ON FINANCING AND GUARANTEES TO SUPPORT SMES IN THE CARIBBEAN

Caracas, October 19, 2015.- The city of Kingston, capital of Jamaica, hosted over October 15 and 16^th, the "Seminar on Financing and Guarantees to support SMEs in the Caribbean", organized by the Permanent Secretariat of Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), in collaboration with government authorities responsible for SMEs in Jamaica, with the purpose of analyzing the pre-feasibility of setting up a guarantee scheme for SMEs in the Caribbean, promoting the incorporation of national and sub regional financial institutions, to support the establishment of a Regional Guarantee System.

The Latin American and Caribbean Regional Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (SELA program - SMEs), to contribute to the debate of ideas, suggestions and comments, to promote the creation of a guarantee scheme for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On this occasion, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA presented the study "Financing and guarantee support to SMEs in the Caribbean. Pre-feasibility study for the creation of a Regional Guarantee Scheme for SMEs in the Caribbean ", developed by SELA in order to analyze the pre-feasibility of setting up a system of guarantees for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The Permanent Secretariat of SELA has been working since 2013, in collaboration with organizations representing SMEs in the Latin American and Caribbean region, to advance the establishment of a system of guarantees in the Caribbean and the training of public and private officials on issues inherent in the financing of SMEs.