The document discusses Jamaica's national policy supporting MSMEs and their role in achieving economic goals. It focuses on opportunities for bamboo industries, including production of charcoal, furniture, and other bamboo products. Key points include establishing bamboo zones and factories across Jamaica, training programs, and inclusive policies supporting women and disabled entrepreneurs to participate in the bamboo sector. The bamboo industry has potential to employ many and contribute to sustainable development.

1. THE ROLE OF THE BAMBOO SECTOR IN JAMAICA

2. MSME POLICY
 In Jamaica, a national Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprise (MSME) and Entrepreneurship Policy is a
critical initiative by the Government of Jamaica which
became an Act of Parliament in 2013.
 The MSMEs play an important role in economic
development and represent the main source of new
business startups, with great potential to contribute
growth and innovation in the economy and accounting
for 90% of total employment.

3. 2030 VISION PLAN
 MSMEs are a high priority on the national agenda as
the sector it is felt is critical for transforming the
economy to achieve the vision articulated in the
National Development Plan 2030 which states our
goal, to make – “Jamaica, the place of choice to live,
work, raise families and do business.”

4. Definition of MSME
 The Government’s policy does not prescribe a
common, mandatory definition but provides guidance
as what is accepted as a description of micro, small and
medium enterprises in the Jamaican context:
 Micro enterprises are generally defined as having one (1)
to three (3) employees and/or an annual turnover less
than J$10,000,000. (JAD$115:US$1).
 Small enterprises are described as having between four
(4) to ten (10) employees and/or an annual turnover of
over J$10,000,000 but less than J$40,000,000.

5. Cont’d
 Medium enterprises are categorized as having between
eleven (11) to fifty (50) employees and/or an annual
turnover that falls between J$40,000,000 and
J$150,000,000.

6. Cont’d
 The drive to secure resources, through multilateral and
bilateral agencies will be continued as the GOJ seeks to
facilitate capacity building in credit institutions and
businesses in an effort to improve efficiency and
productivity throughout the sector.

7. THE HONORABLE MINISTER OF STATE’S ADDRESS TO THE
JAMAICAN PARLIAMENT

8. THE HONORABLE MINISTER OF STATE’S
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT
 The Hon. Sharon Ffolkes-Abrahams made a presentation
with the theme “Facilitating the Growth of Industries” to
the Parliament of Jamaica on 18 June 2014 and in her
introductory remarks she said: “..this theme addresses the
need for inclusive growth at all levels of our economy,
including all skills, groups, and geographic areas – both
rural and urban.
 In this context, our efforts are supportive of Jamaica’s
thrust towards becoming a logistics-centered economy,
which will help us to be more competitive in terms of the
ease and speed of doing business, creating new markets,
and providing new opportunities for micro, small and
medium sized enterprises (MSMEs).”

9. THE ROLE OF THE BAMBOO
INDUSTRY
 It is to be noted that the first ever bamboo forum was
held at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) in April
of last year in which the Deputy Director of INBAR
(International Network of Bamboo and Rattan), Dr. Li
Zhi Young and Mr. Oliver Frith Global Construction
Programme Coordinator from INBAR were in
attendance.

10. BAMBOO TISSUE CULTURE
 Bamboo Propagation in Jamaica will be done through
tissue culture, facilitated by the work that has been
done by Dr. Sylvia Mitchell at the Biotechnology
Centre at the University of the West Indies, along with
National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA),
with a focus on the protection of Jamaica’s biodiversity.

11. OPPORTUNITIES FOR
COMMERCIALIZATION
 In Jamaica, the Bamboo Products Industry Project (BPIP),
housed at the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) has
demonstrated that the common species of bamboo growing
in Jamaica (Bambusa vulgaris) is amenable to the
technologies now being used, and as such, provides
opportunities for the production and commercialization of a
wide range of these bamboo products.

12. THE USE OF BAMBOO
 Bamboo can be used to create a wide range of products
including:
 bamboo flooring,
 corrugated roofing,
 furniture,
 hand-made bamboo woven laminates,
 pens and pencils,
 toothpicks and chop sticks,
 edible bamboo shoots,
 bamboo water/beer,
 bamboo pallet,
 bamboo paper,
 bamboo charcoal

13. BAMBOO USED IN CONSTRUCTION

14. BAMBOO CHARCOAL

15. EDIBLE BAMBOO SHOOTS

16. BAMBOO FURNITURE

17. BAMBOO TREATED STRIPS

18. Cont’d
 Assistance will be sought from INBAR with respect to
the technical support of bamboo shoot production in
Jamaica, which had a global trade value of over $273
million (2012).

19. BAMBOO CHARCOAL PRODUCTION,
PRODUCTS & APPLICATIONS
 As a cleaner source of energy, bamboo charcoal
provides a more sustainable source of fuel.
 Bamboo charcoal can be easily produced.
 The use of bamboo charcoal limits the need for
firewood, and so reduces deforestation.
 It has many uses, which will be prototyped and
developed in the framework of the new Bamboo
Industry Board.

20. Cont’d
 In early 2014, following a meeting with members of the
Bamboo and Indigenous Materials Advisory Council
(BIMAC), the Minister of Water, Land, Environment
and Climate Change (MWLEC), The Hon. Robert
Pickersgill and his technical advisors, policy
consultants, the head of NEPA and Technical Advisor
Nora Blake, NEPA reconsidered the ban on bamboo
charcoal, which was based on some misconceptions
about bamboo charcoal. The Minister issued a letter
exempting bamboo charcoal from the ban on the
export of charcoal from Jamaica.

21. Cont’d
 Senator Norman Grant moved a private members
motion in the Senate for the government to accelerate
its support for the nascent bamboo industry in
Jamaica.
 Following the removal of the ban, a member of BIMAC
established a relationship with businesses in the
United States, which has led to an order for 6 million
pounds of Jamaican bamboo charcoal, with an
estimated retail value of 10 million US-dollars.

22. Cont’d
 A facility in Jamaica using kilns imported from China
has started to export Organic Bamboo to the USA and
in so doing employs 30 persons.

23. WOMEN IN THE
BAMBOO INDUSTRY
 The MIIC will be focusing on
developing strategies and
supportive policies, and financing
of the new bamboo sector to help
take it forward. Within this
broader context, a new Bamboo
Industry Board will examine
strategies and means for social
inclusion to benefit marginalized
groups, particularly those in rural
areas, women and the disabled.
 A study of the MSME Policy will
reveal cross cutting policy
objectives and strategies to
facilitate women and disabled.

24. WOMAN DEMONSTRATING THE USE OF
A MANUAL BAMBOO SPLITTER

25. POLICY STATEMENTS
 Policy Strategies:
 Continuously identify factors that constrain the
participation of women in business and develop
appropriate strategies to address them.
 Build capacity of organizations/entities to design and
deliver programmes that take the unique challenges of
female entrepreneurs into account.
 Facilitate training with at least 50% of training resources
allocated to women entrepreneurs
 Develop business incubators to facilitate innovation and
the use of indigenous material with at least 30% Women
Owned Businesses.

26. POLICY ELEMENT: PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES
 Policy Issue:
 A cursory glance at the Jamaican workforce will reveal that
although persons with disabilities are still employable and are
being employed, there remains a high level of unemployment
within the group.
 As of December 2011, The Jamaica Council for Persons with
Disabilities (JCPD registered a little over 12,045 disabled
Jamaicans but believe that the number of physically
challenged persons living on the island is closer to 400,000.
 For many persons with disabilities or debilitating conditions,
self-employment offer the hope of both making a living and
achieving self-sufficiency.

27. JAMAICAN BAMBOO STANDARDS
 While the sustainable production of bamboo is critical
for people in developing countries, bamboo
certification frameworks lag behind.
 A new Jamaican Standard for Bamboo Charcoal for Air
Purification to be used in the manufacture of charcoal
air filters, is to be Gazetted following on its signing by
the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce
on Thursday 04 April 2015.

28. BAMBOO ZONES
 MIIC will be spearheading a bamboo development strategy to
facilitate the establishment of bamboo products factories in
various zones throughout Jamaica, many of which will take the
form of community Co-Operatives:-
 Zone 1 – Hanover, Westmoreland, St. James: Factories producing
bamboo board and furniture, bamboo charcoal.
 Zone 2 – St. Mary, Portland, St. Thomas: Factories producing edible
bamboo shoots, bamboo charcoal and preserved bamboo sticks.
 Zone 3 – St. Andrew, St. Catherine, Clarendon: Factories producing
bamboo saw dust pellets, bamboo shipping pallets, preserved
bamboo yam sticks, bamboo charcoal and air filters.
 Zone 4 – St. Elizabeth, Manchester: Factories producing edible
bamboo shoots, bamboo charcoal, preserved bamboo yam sticks,
and bamboo power generation.

29. BAMBOO TRAINING PROGRAMME
 An Island-wide bamboo training programme is being discussed which
will also have the involvement of INBAR.
 The future of the new and emerging Bamboo Sector in Jamaica will be
driven by Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises.