The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government has pumped more than $1 billion into micro, small and medium-sized businesses over the past five years, with grant support reaching over 4,000 enterprises.
This is according to the country’s Minister of Tourism, Industry and Commerce, Susan Rodrigues, who signalled the government’s continued push to expand MSME-driven growth.
Rodrigues said small businesses remain a central pillar of Guyana’s economic transformation, arguing that targeted financing and support services are helping entrepreneurs scale, formalise, and compete in a rapidly expanding market.
“Micro, small, and medium enterprises are central to Guyana’s economic transformation. They are the backbone of any economy,” Rodrigues said. She added that “in the last five years, we have spent over $1 billion that [has] been distributed in grants to over 4,000 businesses.”
Beyond grants, Rodrigues pointed to support services run through the Small Business Bureau (SBB), including training and business development assistance.
SBB is a semi-autonomous agency established under the Ministry of Tourism, Industry & Commerce, based on the Small Business Act of 2004, with a focus on access to finance and business development services for small businesses.
“Over 11,000 businesses have been trained in the last five years,” she said, framing the training thrust as key to building resilience and long-term sustainability for small operators.
The Minister said the strategy going forward is to keep strengthening the MSME ecosystem so that more local businesses can capture new opportunities as investment grows and demand rises across sectors.
