Republic Bank signs
business development agreement

A US$40 million loan agreement that will boost the region's economies by strengthening the private sectors in a number of islands was announced by Republic Bank during a signing ceremony at the Trinidad Hilton recently.
The agreement makes up to US$40 million available to Republic Bank for the development of small to medium sized companies in the Eastern Caribbean. US$10 million is to be provided by the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC) and the remaining sum will be sourced from among other international financial institutions, including the Dresdner Bank of Germany.
Republic's Managing Director, Ronald Harford said the initiative is important because it addresses the serious concern of development in the Caribbean's Small Business Sector.
"Caribbean economies," Harford said, "have been characterised by the dominance of one or two major industries, which are in turn dominated by just as few large players.
"Our economies have suffered when things have gone wrong with either those industries or those major companies, and the challenge in these islands has been to encourage the growth of entrepreneurship to a degree that reduces our economies dependence on these dominant industries.
"This new loan agreement will bring greater access to funds and encourage the diversification of our economies by providing our entrepreneurs with the funds they need to grow," he added.

Executive Time "Online" also has a printed version which is available throughout the Caribbean and some selected North American cities.