 to issues and answers, the production of the government information service and the national television network. I am your host, Kendall Eugene, and today with us we have Dr. Zendoubizou, the head of certification, and Ms. Rosemary Pierre Louie, the acting director of the Small Business Development Center. Today we're discussing the Caribbean Development Bank's funded project entitled Technical Assistance, TA, in packaging labeling to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, the MSMEs, and that of course is right here in St. Lucia. And Ms. Pierre Louie will also give us an update on some of her projects as well. Welcome to the program and thank you for joining me. Thank you. Now, Doc, let me make sure I pronounce your last name correctly. Is it Zendoubizou? Yes. Okay, excellent. I have to make sure I have that one right before I go through your entire show, and I'm butchering your last name. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your designation. I am Zendoubizou. I am head of the certification department at the San Mishaburo Standards, and my department deals with certification programs in various sectors. We're looking at agro-processing. We're looking at beauty and wellness industry, as well as product certification and house of certification. Excellent. And you, Ms. Pierre Louie? Okay, so I'm the acting director of CELU as you mentioned earlier, and our major role is to provide support to small businesses in St. Lucia to take these entrepreneurs from an idea to full-fledged businesses. Excellent. We've had a lot of young entrepreneurs in St. Lucia put out some really spectacular business ideas, but what I've realized is a lot of them don't know how to take the idea from just the paper and implementing it. Would you say Zendoubizou is there to assist and help them with that? Definitely. So anybody with an idea, we will call them just a pre-venture. You come in with your idea, we will assist you, we will guide you, we will coach you, we will assist you in formalizing your business, registering your business. Quite apart from the registration, we will provide you with technical assistance in the areas of marketing, e-commerce, and thereafter, we coach you and we watch as your business develops into, we really what our aim is at the city is to see these young entrepreneurs take the businesses from just an idea to export markets. Now something that entrepreneurs need to understand is the value of visibility and with visibility comes how you package your product. Now the project that has been implemented by the Firmish Abroad Standards, of course in collaboration with the Small Business Development Center, it really speaks to that, giving you the technical assistance in packaging and labeling. Let's talk a little bit about the project box, what is it all about and how can one be involved or get involved? Okay, I will start off by mentioning the idea in the project, the rationale, because we find that you have a lot of businesses when it comes to exporting their products and even on the local market as well, there are issues related to the packaging and labeling. When we look at our statistics at the Bureau, we do have a program that assesses the packaging of persons with products and over the last two years we've had only a 54% compliance with our national labeling standard and that standard is a compulsory standard and you have persons who have not met, who are not meeting the requirements even for the national and local markets. Now some of the reasons, and I will refer to my notes here because I don't want to leave out any, they would make unsubstantiated nutritional claims. For example, they would say a particular product make your particular illness, but you would have to substantiate that claim. You also have issues related to the lack of metric declaration of the contents, they would only put it in pounds and ounces, whereas you would have to put it in grams. Another reason they fail to list the ingredients by order, so on any packaging based on the ingredients that you have, you have to start from the highest to the lowest amount of ingredients that you have in the product. Another reason that when they have compound ingredients, for example, you may have something like mayonnaise and you'll say, okay, just mayonnaise, but mayonnaise may have egg and you have certain persons who may have certain allergies. So when you have compound ingredients, you also have to list the ingredients in these compound ingredients. Another reason, again, is the absence of the base before dates and batch numbers. That's a very common mistake that they make and the other thing is that you may not get any information about the manufacturer and the product. So our program tends to address these issues. They will need to rectify it so that they can comply with the national requirements. You said we have about 54%. I'm sure a lot of people have visited the supermarket or even their small shops in the community and have seen a lot of the homemade goodies that we enjoy, but the nutritional benefits are not there. Like you just said, the base before dates are not there. Does that mean they are not in compliance with the standards and that product should not be out for sale? Okay, so our program, though the standard is compulsory, we do have a program where we do market surveillance, where we go into the retail outlets and we look at labels and if the label does not meet the requirements, these labels are pulled off and the manufacturers ask to add the information that it's missing. We also encourage consumers when they see those problems to also call us and let us know so that we can go into the supermarket as well and pull those products off the shelf. Not to single out anybody because they don't want people to feel that we are targeting them, but there are various products that are on the shelf, even today, with the labels on them and the labels are brightly packaged, looking lovely and a lot of it, we cannot understand what is on there. Well, that's one of the requirements as well. It must be in English. Now, we are a very small organization and we cannot be everywhere all the time and we also have new products that emerge as well. So when people see those kind of issues, please bring it to our attention. When we see them also, we pull them up and we ask them to put the information. It has to be in English so that people can understand what's there on the product. Now, we have the project and the feeling will come to you in just a little while because you have to take a quick break in a bit, but just before we go into the break, can we get an office on the objectives of the project at hand? Okay, the objectives of the project is to provide training in packaging and labeling. So that's the first component of the product and that training will be done virtually. So you have that training. It's a two-day training where they would receive information as it relates to the basic requirements for packaging and labeling, even the cost of packaging, digital packaging, barcode, etc. So that's the first component of the project. Okay, hold up. We'll come to the second bit and maybe fourth as well. There's issues and answers. And we are here speaking with Dr. Zend-Dubisor and there's Rosemary Pierre Louis. Dr. Dubisor is the head of the certification. And Pierre Louis is the acting director of a small business center. We'll take a break and we'll be right back after this. I have my mobile, landline, cable TV and internet service. If I have a problem with any of the services, what should I do? Here's what you should do to resolve the problem. First, get in for larger complaint forms and lodge your complaint with the service provider. If after 30 days there is still no solution, you may contact your National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, NTRC. This message is brought to you as a public service announcement by Ectel, the NTRC and this station. Welcome back to Issues and Answers. Today we're discussing the Caribbean Development Bank funded project entitled Technical Assistance TA in packaging and labeling to Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the MFMEs in St. Lucia. And just before the break, Dr. Dubisor, you were speaking to the training and we had only spoken on one of the training aspects that you would like to see be achieved. So we can continue with that one here. I'm reading that you can continue at least 200 MSMEs by December 2023. Yes, that's correct. Okay, let's continue. Okay, so the first training, like we said, was packaging and labeling. And the second training would be market positioning because you know that's important. As a business, I mean, your customers are the reason why you exist. So you must ensure that you're able to market your products, not just nationally, but on the international market as well. So the training would also look at brand development. How do you position yourself in the retail outlets? How do you supermarkets? How do you attract customers? So that training would be a three day training. So the packaging and labeling was a two day and marketing will be a three day training and we're looking to accomplish the training, both of which will happen virtually by the end of December 2023. So that's the first two components of the project. When one has completed the training, will they receive a certificate of accomplishment or completion and can they now take that certificate and apply it to any business venture that they would like to be a part of? Well, the training is basically to give them information as to what you need to do to ensure that your labels meet the requirement of the national and international market. So when they receive the training, it's up to them now to apply it. But here's the receiver certificate saying that they have received that training. Excellent. How much would it be or how much would it cost to register for that particular training? Okay, so the project, there is what you call commitment, because the MSMEs would have to pay a commitment fee of $100. And with that $100, they will receive that marketing and that packaging and labeling training. And also they would also have to commit to implementing the recommendations, not just about going to the woodshop, but as well as trying to implement the what you know, what you've learned from the training so that you can now position yourself to access new markets. It's really we have known the small business development center to be a part of many different projects. Can you give us an update on some of your projects that you've been a part of? So in terms of the MSME loan grant facility, this is one of the major projects being undertaken right now by the Ministry of Commerce. And essentially, what it is, is that entrepreneurs, qualifying entrepreneurs will receive a 70% grant funding and a 30% loan. So for example, if you qualify for $10,000, $7,000 will be grant and $3,000 will be loan. All right. So that project was launched earlier this year, and it was supposed to run over three different cohorts over the year. And the first cohort ended in May this year. And at the end of May, we had over 500, 501 applications to be exact. So we met our target during the first call of the program. So right now we're in the process of going through the applications and we have gone through roughly 200 applications. The approval rate is roughly 70%. And based on what we saw last Friday, we can safely say that the Evaluation Committee has approved about over 2 million, just about $2.1 million to be disbursed to these entrepreneurs. I must say that the response was very encouraging, but not surprising, in that we know that one of the biggest challenges our entrepreneurs have been facing is access to financing. Access to capital. And because of their very nature, they are small, it is very difficult for them to qualify under the regimes of the commercial banking system. All right. So this program nicely complements what we are doing at the Ministry of Commerce, because on one component, we are giving them the financing and we also giving them technical assistance in the areas of marketing e-commerce. And then they can get additional assistance from the bureau in the areas of labeling and testing, bringing it all together into a beautiful package, because what we really want to do, as I mentioned earlier, is to see to what extent we could boost our exports. All right. In St. Lucia, we have some amazing products, but we need to take it to the next level. If you can just think our soaps, our jams, our jellies, our seamos, all of these are amazing products, but we need to ensure that they meet the international requirements to allow them to export and to be competitive. Some of the entrepreneurs that you have made contact with have come across. What would you say is the most popular business venture? Most popular in St. Lucia. A lot of persons are now going into the services sector. I believe because of so much assistance is now readily available through various agencies for professional services. You have your ICTs, your architects, beauty and wellness. You have a lot of, especially the young persons, a lot of them are going into the services sector, beauty and wellness in particular. And to get the young funding that they require, how would they go about or what should they do? How would they get interested? So, as I said, the first cohort is now closed, all right, but we are evaluating as quickly as possible and a decision will be announced in terms of the date for the second call. All right. So, it's a simple, there's an application form on the ministry's website. It is for persons over the age of 30 to 60, up to 60 years. All right. And then we have three categories. If you are a prevention, you could qualify for up to $10,000. If you are an established business up to two years, then you could qualify for up to $20,000. And if you are an established business for more than two years, then you can qualify for up to $25,000. You must be a St. Lucian national. That's essentially it. Complete the application form. Do your business plan. Tell us what is it that you want to use the funds for. Make sure you have your supporting documents, your invoices, and whatnot. Send in your application and we will review the evaluation committee. Has some competent experts from various areas. We sit, we review your application and a decision is made on the amount of funding that we kind of prove for you. Your name is sent to the development bank and then the disbursement of the funds happens. Now you were very happy to announce that we had over 500. The last time around, what number are you looking for, this, when the next call is made? Well, based on the loan agreement, we actually, we were targeting a total of 450 applicants, all right, over the three calls. And as I rightly, as I said earlier, we already have 500. But unfortunately, not all 500 persons will qualify. So from what we're seeing, it appears to be a 70 percent approval rate of 70 percent. So let's safely assume 70 percent of 500 will receive approval. And so the second call will be open for the remaining applicants. And if I did not get approval the fifth time, it does not exclude me from trying again. I can't send in another application. Because your business name will specify your area of business. And maybe you didn't receive approval because your area of business may not be in the priority area, or because you probably need assistance with your business plan. And those persons who require assistance with their business plans, we have gotten assistance from the OAS to bring in some consultants to help them so that they could augment or streamline these business plans. So yes, if the issue was that of your business plan needed strengthening, you can receive the assistance, update it, augment it, and resubmit under the second call. Excellent. We'll take a quick break. When we get back, we will talk about the technical assistance now that is provided to the MSMEs. We will also get a number on that one. So keep it here with us, folks. We will be back right after this. This is Issues and Answers. How do I decide which telecommunication service provider to use? When choosing a mobile, landline, cable TV, and internet service provider, or changing the one you currently use, here's what you should think about in order to get the best service to meet your needs. Why do I need the service? What is the quality of service offered? What are the rates? Are there hidden charges? How much can I afford to pay for the service? What are the customer service obligations of the provider? Not satisfied with the service? The choice is yours whether or not to use the service. This message is brought to you as a public service announcement by Ecto, the NTRC, and this station. Welcome back. We are here with Dr. Sam Zidumi's order head of certification and Ms. Rosemary Pierre Louie, the acting director of a small businesses development center discussing the CDB funded project entitled Technical Assistance TA in packaging and labeling to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, the MSMEs. And now let us get into the technical assistance now. How many MSMEs are you prepared to provide technical assistance to? Okay, so the first component was the training, so targeting 200 persons are over, and that takes us after to the second component where they will actually get hands-on assistance. So from the 200 plus we will select 50 persons. Of course there is an eligibility criteria that we will be guided by. So once they've selected those persons are going to now work with the consultants where they would get an assessment of the packaging and labeling and so there's a third component and once that component is done we move into the fourth component where now after the assistance and all the recommendations are made we have a graphic design artist who will be designing the labels for them and actually handing them and say okay this is your new design for your products. Hold on, wait a minute. You're just trying to breathe past that one and that's very important. Someone is going to design a full label for how many individuals? Is it one or 50? 50 persons. That is a very big deal that I don't think you're making too much of a highlight on because to get a label designed it costs a lot of money. It is very, very expensive to get a design, a proper design and somebody is going to be doing that. Absolutely free. I'm so happy that you said that it costs a lot of money and we have a commitment for you of only a hundred dollars to participate in the project so as you could see it's a win. It's a win for everybody. And a hundred dollars of what cover a graphic design as D. Yes, so the artist would work with these persons who will design at least two labels for everybody and then they will select the better one. So I just wanted to say, I don't think we have mentioned it, but the project targets persons from the agriculture sector. Yeah, we will come into that one. Agro processing, the creative industry, fashion and craft, as well as non-food manufacturing. So when I say non-food, you're looking at persons who are into aromatherapy, hair products, soaps, etc. We have a lot of young entrepreneurs going into the non-food manufacturing. I have seen a lot of rubs, for example, popping up on the shelves of supermarkets, on the shelves of those those three, the gas station stores, etc. Talking about, and I want to go back into the the graphic design itself, and that is why earlier on we said that visibility is so important. When this is all done, doc, how can one determine if their item is actually a product of standards, of a standard to go on to a shelf? How do we determine that your product is fit enough to get on to the shelf? Okay, the packaging and labeling. The packaging is the end product, but there's a lot that goes into the process, and we encourage persons to implement standards, and we have a lot of standards, a lot of standards, and we'd like persons, when you go into ventures, give us a call, you can ask what are the standards available for soaps, what are the standards available for whatever the product, and if we don't have a national standard, we will try to source the standard for you. One person should have that culture of implementing standards, so if the standards are not properly implemented, then of course at the end, you will not get a product and be nicely labeled, but the product, the quality is not what it should be, so we encourage persons to actually implement standards, and testing is important, and that's why we have the national agriculture diagnostic facility, and we actually right now build on the ability to offer testing to those persons, testing of their products. Now, after all, the components we've exhausted them, we've completed them, is there any follow-on training that's available for the entrepreneurs who have been successful? We provide a range of training opportunities, we do training in food safety, we do training in quality management as well, and we do training in the requirements of standards, so for example, as a particular group, and like we said, we are all collaborating with SBFC, and the group of persons who are into a particular product, and they want to understand what the standard requires, we can have sessions, we can do the training for free. For sure. Yes, because it's about letting them understand what the requirements of the standard is, that training is for free. Yeah, and if I just may add, under our program, we realize that quite a bit of them are coming with these beauty products, the soaps, the creams and whatnot, and we do refer them to the SLBS for that assistance for testing and labeling of their products. I mean, a good idea comes to mind when I think about our sulfur soap in St. Lucia, we still have it in a clear bag and just sulfur soap, our coconut oils, all right, so under these two projects, it's an ideal opportunity for now for us to test them, label them properly, and bring them to the next level. Heading to the next level, which is so important, a very, very interesting discussion here with Dr. Adubi Fou and Ms. Pierre Louie. Just before we close off, do you have any final words or any words of encouragement to our entrepreneurs that you would like to let them know? Okay, so I would like to say that we did put out a call for consultants, which is now closed. We had also put out a call out to participants to come and sign into the project. We had a deadline of July 14th, but we have extended the deadline because of course we're trying to meet a target of 200 percent, so we would leave that open. So please, entrepreneurs, please look out for that notice, because we also want to send out another call for participants through Ministry of Commerce, through the Bureau of Standards website, so that you can actually tap into this opportunity. It's a great opportunity. Yes, thank you for those applicants who have submitted an application for assistance under the facility. What I would like to say is we are working towards reviewing your applications, so we please ask you to be patient with us. We will keep you updated as we go through the applications. As I said, we are somewhere around number 200, and we need to get to 500, and we are committed to doing this before November. Okay, so please be patient with us. We will give you the updates, check your emails, your phones. We are sending the updates as we go along. All right. What I would say thank you both for joining me this morning. We have with us here Dr. Zendoubizou, the head of certification, and also Ms. Rosemary Pier Louie, he's the acting director of a small business development center. The discussion where it was the Caribbean Development Bank funding the project entitled Technical Assistance TA in Packaging and Labeling to Micro Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the MSMEs right here in St. Lucia. Again, thank you for joining me. Thank you for having us. This has been Issues and Answers. I'm your host, Gene Eugene. Have a great day. Bye-bye now.