SXMElections.com

Dear Editor,

What is our attitude towards entrepreneurship on St. Maarten, should it not reflect the environment created to foster Small and Medium Sized Businesses (SMEs)? According to Russell S. Sobel, in the Concise Encyclopaedia of Economics, "an entrepreneur is someone who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise. An entrepreneur is an agent of change. Entrepreneurship is the process of discovering new ways of combining resources.

When the market value generated by this new combination of resources is greater than the market value these resources can generate elsewhere individually or in some other combination, the entrepreneur makes a profit. An entrepreneur who takes the resources necessary to produce a pair of jeans that can be sold for 30 dollars and instead turns them into a denim backpack that sells for 50 dollars will earn a profit by increasing the value those resources create."

How do we act as agents of change in St. Maarten; are we still creating value-added services or is the market oversaturated? Although a large majority of the youth subscribe to the school of thought that gone are the days when our parents could have maintained their household by owning a small business. It is of my opinion that St. Maarten could still foster the creation of profitable small businesses with the right intervention by government and private sector representatives. Using the right tools like soft law policies that now encourage Foreign Direct Investment with tax breaks, a certain category of small businesses should also benefit from similar incentives.

At a certain point in time like other developing small Caribbean States, St. Maarten needed foreign direct investment to build our economy. While other territories opted for independence and protectionist policies that blocked foreign investment, the people of St. Maarten choose to open its borders and pursue free market policies. The benefits of such, is present today where the best duty-free shopping in the northeast Caribbean is available in St. Maarten along with the largest variety of services and amenities. I am of the opinion that there still exists room for investment; it just needs to be smart and innovative, as St. Maarten is now a dynamic and competitive economic hub of the Caribbean.

Shouldn't local investors also be given the opportunity to secure their investment? Via the European Union's 15 million-euro programme "Strengthening the development of Small and Medium Enterprises of the British & Dutch OCTs in the Caribbean Region," St. Maarten will benefit from public and private sector interventions. I surely HOPE many young entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs make use of these to-be-identified projects as they are introduced on St. Maarten.

I have confidence in our honourable Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams as the Territorial Authorizing Officer in charge of bringing this much-needed relief to our SMEs via this programme. I consider this programme to be far reaching in its competences, because it requires both private sector and public sector interventions. Combined public sector and private sector interventions is a trend that is becoming quite popular worldwide, based on requirements for both sectors to cooperate and accept ownership for the programme to be a success.

Many years ago, our forefathers fed their families by toiling in the soil, or learning to fish the waters. We started burning coal keel to trade for meat, milk or fish and are now building bridges across the lagoon. While many of us go about our busy lifestyles, in many of our communities still exist subsistence fishermen and farmers that have found ways to substitute their income with their hobby.

Returning home from the Netherlands while out of work and looking for a job, I was proactive and started my own agriculture project in April 2013. What started with seeds collected from various local gardens, has grown into a fruit garden consisting of 10 mango trees, eight avocado trees, passion fruit vines, one sea grape tree, 20 soursop trees and five Guavaberry trees. If I choose to sell them today I can ask anywhere between 30 and 50 dollars per tree.

While these subsistence-farming techniques are now considered old-fashioned, there exist leading edge technologies such as aquaponics. Aquaponic facilities don't require much space and are specifically built for high income and quality crops that will provide high in demand fresh herbs and fish for local restaurants.

When aspiring to become an entrepreneur, start small and grow big. In the words of Malcom Forbes "It's never too late to learn." Don't be afraid to start something because you don't have the cash flow or experience, said President and CEO of Guidance Aviation John Stonecipher.

What are your views on entrepreneurship in St. Maarten, what types of intervention are needed to create an environment for the growth of SMEs?

Hasani Ellis