Youth Business Trust Carded for Mid-Year Start
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Contact: Julita Peter
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 – The newly launched Youth Business Trust is set to be fully functional by the 1st of June, 2008. The Youth Business Trust along with the Youth Mentoring Program was launched on Friday March 7th, by the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, during a one-day visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Chairperson of the Youth Business Trust, Techla Deterville says the programme will serve as a link to facilitate young persons who have dreams of becoming entrepreneurs.
“We at the Chamber see the establishment of this Trust as a means of providing financial support and business know how, to young persons with brilliant ideas who want to get involved in their own businesses. Presently we have a number of disenfranchised and unemployed youth and new school leavers, and access to start up capital is not very easy. The Chamber, through this Trust, wants to remove that constraint,” Deterville said.
Inspired by the acclaimed successes of similar programmes in the United Kingdom and Barbados, the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce will be piggybacking on the Barbados experience in undertaking the programme. The Chamber, Deterville says, will also seek assistance from bodies such as the James Belgrave Fund, National Research Development Foundation, Small Enterprise Development Unit and the Caribbean Microfinance Ltd, in getting the project going.
It is also the intention of the Chamber to establish an independent board of trustees from esteemed members of the local business community.
“Initially the core will comprise past presidents of the Chamber, and I have been given the distinct honour of serving as the founder chairperson. The First Caribbean International Bank has already committed to supporting the establishment and operation of the Youth Business Trust in the Caribbean, and St. Lucia will be a beneficiary. Other sources of funding will be the Government of Saint Lucia, international donor communities, and other philanthropic organizations,” Deterville added.
The Chamber is confident that the local business community will respond overwhelmingly to assist the nation's youth. The Youth Business Trust is an addition to the Junior Achievement Program, which has recorded huge success since its inception in 1997, with only six secondary schools then participating. Currently there are twenty secondary schools and several other primary schools participating in the JA Program. |
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