MP Solange Ludmilla Duncan with Inprende founder Alessandra Correa.
PHILIPSBURG–The youngest woman to be sworn in to Parliament, Member of Parliament (MP) Solange Ludmila Duncan, met with Inprende founder Alessandra Correa during a recent trip to Puerto Rico, to learn more about the company’s work as a platform for the promotion and facilitation of innovation and entrepreneurship, and to discuss possible partnerships with St. Maarten.
Inprende has been contracted by the Government of Puerto Rico to execute education and training programmes for thousands of businesses and has in turn impacted more than 60,000 entrepreneurs.
“In St. Maarten, especially after Hurricane Irma, we have had so many people start their own businesses. However, we currently lack a permanent and sustainable training programme, funded by Government, that enables them to garner the skills, mindset and tools necessary to become the best that they can possibly be,” Duncan said in a press release.
“Partnering with companies like Inprende, who are now in talks with the governments of the Dominican Republic and Panama to design similar training programmes, would give St. Maarten’s entrepreneurs a competitive edge in the region as well as promote financial success and resilience.”
Duncan “firmly believes” that developing St. Maarten’s economy should be centred around developing its entrepreneurs and locally-owned businesses, especially those with export potential.
“I visited the Tasty Smart Cookie Factory in Vega Baja, co-founded by my friend Jonelie Velez, who lived in St. Maarten a few years ago, and was amazed by both the simplicity and magnitude of the operation. When I heard that the government sponsored the factory and assisted with other costs, I knew that I needed to learn more about the current push towards promoting local entrepreneurship on the island,” Duncan said.
St. Maarten’s position as a hub will give a significant advantage to local businesses that develop products worth exporting. It would be in the best interest of the private, public and not-for-profit sectors to collaborate on developing a national entrepreneurial mindset, she noted.
“St. Maarten has great potential for economic diversification as long as the government, Parliament and private sector stakeholders like the banks make a major, concerted effort to develop small and medium-sized business through the leveraging of opportunities for financing, education and training. I will be sending a letter to the Ministry of TEATT [Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication – Ed.] and various private sector organizations, on the possibilities for partnership with Inprende,” Duncan said.
She aims to improve and develop legislation and policies that will assist local businesspersons to succeed, not only creating value for themselves but also for the country and the rest of the world.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/92836-duncan-talks-possible-partnership-with-entrepreneurship-company
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