BELMOPAN, Belize – Prime Minister John Briceno through the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), with grant financing of Bz $800,000 provided by the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF), launched the Belize Enterprise Empowerment Project (BEEP) with the aim of providing financial support to 95 micro, small, and medium enterprises across Belize.
The BEEP aims to address economic challenges faced by MSMEs by enhancing their business skills, financial literacy, and digital capabilities. Over the course of the project, 95 MSMEs will benefit from business skills training tailored for startups, maturing businesses, and exporters seeking to expand their market reach and improve operational efficiency.
Key objectives of the BEEP include enhancing business skills by improving business models, financial literacy and digital capabilities of selected MSMEs. The project’s objective is to offer grants, particularly to youths and women in rural areas, to overcome financial barriers and accelerate business growth and entrepreneurs operating in the orange economy.
The project’s implementation will be across three cohorts over the next two -years; with each cohort progressing through phases that include application and selection to training, grant disbursement and ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Grants ranging from BZ $5,000 to BZ $20,000 will be allocated based on the business stage, which includes startups, maturing businesses, and export-ready enterprises.
Prime Minister Briceno delivered the keynote address. Remarks were also delivered by Rodinald Soomer, CEO of the CARICOM Development Fund (CDF); Narda Garcia, CEO in the office of the prime minister and chair of BELTRAIDE and Dr Leroy Almendarez, executive director of BELTRAIDE.
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