Strong support for legitimate business

I believe that a more business-friendly environment which encourages entrepreneurship is an important part of the equation to break the cycle of high unemployment, crime and a relatively high fertility rate among unemployed Jamaicans.

Government's focus on reducing bureaucracy and red tape in the public sector, as well as private sector initiatives to increase skills training, give some hope.

We cannot rely only on the traditional earners such as mining and tourism.

Those of us who have succeeded in businesses should act as mentors to newcomers and thus encourage the proliferation of legitimate business enterprises.

In this regard, I strongly support the private-sector initiative, Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE) programme.

Any such programme, which is geared at empowering unattached young people in troubled communities by improving their employability through mentorship and skills training, deserves the support of all Jamaicans.

YUTE employment, which targets young people who need jobs and YUTE entrepreneurship, which targets young people interested in creating their own businesses, are noble private-sector initiatives and could well be the catalyst in starting a revolution in legitimate business growth in Jamaica.

The multibillion-dollar initiative targets over 2,000 such young people, and I sincerely hope it achieves its objectives.

The YUTE executive, which includes Joseph M. Matalon, Sandra Glasgow, Keith Duncan, Imani Duncan and Richard Chen, deserves our strong support!

I shall play my part in spreading the message via some of my business programmes.

Various sources put the island's unemployment rate at 12.9 per cent up to March this year.

Wouldn't it be a remarkable achievement if private-sector-led initiatives such as YUTE were to take this to single digit in two years?