Aubyn Hill presses small firms to tap 20% government contract set-aside

Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, is calling on more micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to make use of the Government’s 20 per cent Set-Aside Programme.

He says the scheme aims to widen the share of small firms winning state contracts and to equip them with the backing required to enter and compete in that market.

In an interview with JIS News at the New Testament Church of God Kingdom Builders Business Expo on July 11 in Old Harbour, St. Catherine, Senator Hill said the programme, launched in 2019, rings-fences a share of qualifying government contracts for MSMEs. The State has opened those doors, he stressed, but owners must put their firms in a position to walk through them.

To lift procurement readiness, the Ministry is working with the Public Procurement Commission (PPC) and the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service to keep rolling MSME roadshows across Jamaica. Minister Hill said the sessions bring official help to entrepreneurs’ doorsteps, with hands-on advice on what public contracting demands and how the process works.

“We take it to them and say – ‘this is what you have to do… you have to get registered with the Companies Office [of Jamaica]’. You have to do one or two or three more things… and we help them to do it,” he said.

Senator Hill said the Government anticipates that more of Jamaica’s roughly 425,000 MSMEs will join the programme as time goes on. Those firms make up about 97 per cent of the country’s taxpaying businesses and supply between 60 and 70 per cent of jobs, he noted, arguing that contribution should come with wider access to government contracting opportunities.

He also said the roadshows will keep hosting business pitch contests in which operators can win grants of $100,000, $300,000 or $500,000 to expand and fortify their companies. With the Public Procurement Commission now joining the events, entrepreneurs can draw technical advice on winning Government work and meet procurement officers and other business people more readily.

“That’s what we’re looking for – greater and more consistent participation in the public procurement system that the Government manages in this country,” Minister Hill said.