Kingston, Jamaica.

Cooperating government agent: Jamaica Promotions Corporation.
Executing agency: United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO).

The project was established to promote and develop small and medium industries in Jamaica as well as to establish technological development and training support to small and medium enterprises (SME). Its aim is to increase the contribution of small and medium enterprises, including those in the rural areas, to the national industrial output by improving
their productivity according to the principles of total quality management, continuous improvement and networking and by strengthening the SMEs institutional support system. Currently, the second phase of the project, continues to support national efforts to ensure the nationwide promotion and development of SME’s. It provides a strong support to the implementation of the National Industrial Policy in its objectives of building and sustaining the competitiveness of national SMEs. The project was successfully implemented and completed in 2000.

• National institutions and administrative capacity (Chapter X of Barbados Programme of Action)
• Human resource development (Chapter XIV of BPoA).

• The Networking Unit, a modernized productivity centre, is fully equipped and operational. It coordinates programme activities and acts as a focal point for SMEs support services in the country in addition to a hub information provider onSME’s related issues.
• Resource centres have been modernized by upgrading the level of services in the following sectors: woodworking/furniture, garment/fashion, agro/food processing, capitalgoods, crafts and design.
• Three Mobile Service Units (MSU) are equipped and provide SMEs support services.
• Promotional facilities have been established to collect products from SMEs.
• Linkages have been strengthened among technical schools, vocational institutions and universities. Joint projects for SMEs have been designed and implemented in cooperation with resource centres and the productivitycenter.
• A set of training packages were produced for issues such as networks creation, total quality management, design and product development, environment and wasteminimization.
• Twenty-five professionals and the staff of 500 various SMEs have been trained as focal points in the above fields.

• Strong local ownership of project activities and effective support at the highest level of public sector institutions allowed for the sustainability of the project.
• Offering SMEs innovative technical services, for instance in design and marketing, and customized to the needs of the entrepreneurs were key factors in the success of the project. It is important to design cost-recovery measures from the beginning of the institutional capacity-building initiatives, when recommending technical services.
• SME support is more successful when directed to groups of enterprises rather than individual ones (more effective as well as cost-efficient).

Ms. Giovanna Ceglie
UNIDO
E-mail: gceclie@unido.org