CARICOM welcomes Obama $68M plan for young entrepreneurs

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By Fareeza Haniff in Panama City

[www.inewsguyana.com] – Secretary General of Caricom, Irwin LaRocque has lauded the proposed $68M education/training programme for young entrepreneurs in the Caribbean region by US President, Barack Obama who made the announcement on Thursday, April 09 while attending the Caricom Heads of Government summit in Jamaica.

During an interview with the Guyanese media at the Riu Hotel in Panama City just before the VII Summit of the Americas, LaRocque described the programme as a “significant one”, pointing out that Caricom conducted several small entrepreneurial programmes which were funded by the UNDP and USAID.

“The programme he has announced is extremely important for us. The youth are the future of our nations, we need to create jobs, we need for the youth to create their own jobs, become entrepreneurs particularly in the field of ICT which is one of the areas that he mentioned,” the Secretary General said.

He further noted that during a discussion with the US President, Caricom leaders raised the issues of youth and unemployment and the need for leaders to focus on ICT as a means of creating wealth in the region.

This year, two dozen young entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba, will get the opportunity to participate in a pilot programme in the US under the just-launched Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI).

The initiative is part of a wider education, training and employment thrust which the US is financing and will be expanded to include 250 young people in 2016 and every year after that.

“We’re going to seek out the most innovative young entrepreneurs in civil society in the Caribbean and Latin America and give them a chance to earn a substantial continuum of the training resources, and connections, networks and capital that (will make) a difference,” the US president said.

He explained that the programme will help young people expand their commercial and social connections through business incubators and other means. The participants will have access to virtual resources, training, mentoring and platforms to extend their linkages.

YLAI is intended to build on the president’s 100,000 Strong in the Americas Initiative, which was designed to increase the number of educational exchanges between the United States and countries in the region.