Ninety Four East Port of Spain Youths Commit to Creating Further Business Opportunities

What is involved in owning and operating your own business? On Friday July 27, 2018, Ninety Four (94) young persons who either reside or go to school in East Port of Spain can now say they have an idea, as they graduated from the East Port of Spain Development Company Limited’s Youth Entrepreneurial Programme 2018 (YEP). The YEP programme, which was conducted at the St. Francois Girls College, was an intense two-week training programme dedicated to introducing young minds into the world of owning and operating their own businesses.

Facilitated by the Business Lifeline Limited, these young aspirant entrepreneurs endured a series of exercises and experiences engineered to equip them with the requisite skills to successfully start and operate a business from its embryonic stage to actual implementation and growth. Over the course of ten (10) days the young participants also had the opportunity to learn from several prominent captains of industries what it took to survive challenging and competitive economic environments.

As part of the justification of such a programme, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Ag) Haimdath Ramoutar in delivering the feature address stated that “we all need to understand that economic sustainability is required if we want to move East Port of Spain from what it has become to what is possible through regeneration. It is therefore vital that we encourage and equip our young entrepreneurs to succeed, as that will drive further development and investment in the area.”

Also speaking at the event was Dr. Deborah Thomas Austin, Managing Director of the East Port of Spain Development Company who congratulated the participants for their achievements and willingness to apply themselves. The Freetown Collective also added to the day’s celebration as they delivered a powerful motivation and inspirational performance.