Above: Kingston (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica has earmarked approximately $4.45 million in funding for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the country for fiscal year 2013/2014, according to Industry Minister Anthony Hylton.

Of that money, which is being allocated through the Development Bank of Jamaica, approximately 57 percent is targeted for the Credit Enhancement Fund.

That fund gives small enterprises an opportunity to access loan support.

Hylton, who spoke this week at a session on the implications of the IMF agreement for small business, said MSMEs have a “central place” in Jamaica’s growth strategy.

Hylton, who is spearheading Jamaica’s push to create a global logistics hub in Kingston, said that proposed project would also help the small business sector, as something that would spawn “a myriad of downstream industries.”