. notwithstanding these increasing efforts, demand continues to outstrip supply, and there is the widely - held view that the sme sector is still underserved. perhaps that is the main justification for this seminar – to provide an opportunity for small business entrepreneurs and associations, financial institutions, government bodies, the private sector as well as academic institutions to ( a ) examine the major challenges facing the sector ; and ( b ) to identify some necessary priority actions that can contribute to building a more vibrant small business sector in trinidad and tobago. today ’ s programme is organized around four ( 4 ) main themes ( a ) characteristics of the sector and the constraints affecting smes ( b ) fostering entrepreneurship and developing an appropriate business environment, ( c ) financing sme development, and ( d ) setting priorities for sme development. one of the major obstacles to developing appropriate policies for the sme sector is the lack of an organized set of information on the sector, its contribution to national output, investment and employment. the first session of the seminar is devoted to a discussion of these issues, drawing from the preliminary findings of two studies that are currently in the field. the second and third sessions of the seminar take a more in - depth look at some key factors that are critical to fostering entrepreneurship and to the development of appropriate business environment, drawing on current best practices. in the final segment of the programme, we have invited a number of associations connected to small and medium sized enterprises to identify some of the areas that need to be given priority, if smes are to play their role in the development and transformation of the economy. the central bank has a deep involvement in small business development – not by actually providing financing ourselves, but in a catalytic way, by encouraging financial institutions to be responsive to the financing needs of smes. recently, the bank expanded its support for sme development through its national financial literacy programme. we are now in the final stages of preparing a sme handbook, which is geared to helping small entrepreneurs better understand the business climate and to providing them with relevant material to assist in the effective management of their businesses. this handbook will cover issues such as product pricing, product distribution, marketing, sourcing finance, budgeting, the development of an appropriate business plan and the preparation of financial statements to mention a few. ladies and gentlemen, today ’ s programme could not have come at a more opportune time, since we need our small business sector to bolster our economy ’ s resili

do with the sustainability of the movement and with enlightened self - interest. the financial environment is changing very rapidly – more so now than at any period in our history, because of the proliferation of modern information technology. the credit union movement will have to continue changing with the times to meet its members ’ needs, to fend off competition from other financial service providers and to remain relevant. the sustainability of the movement will require that credit unions get into increasingly riskier activities to survive and thrive. in these circumstances, formal, rigorous supervision will become more critical and more urgent. i should add that it is in everybody ’ s self - interest to have effective formal regulation since poor financial practices by one or two credit unions could undermine confidence in the entire movement and could conceivably have contagion effects on the entire financial system. i must concede that formal arrangements for the prudential regulation of credit unions are a relatively recent phenomenon. we, in trinidad and tobago, are not alone in lacking adequate credit union legislation. in fact, data published by the world council of credit unions ( wccu ) indicate that only about one - third of 104 member countries surveyed, have credit union - specific legislation. in most developing countries credit unions continue to be regulated under cooperative societies legislation. the united kingdom brought credit unions under the authority of the financial services authority ( the regulator for the commercial banks ) only in 2002. in jamaica, legislation shifting the regulation of credit unions to the bank of jamaica ( the central bank ) was passed in 2004 but the operating details are still being worked out. in barbados, starting last year the five largest credit unions accounting for 80 percent of total credit union assets are supervised jointly by the central bank and the registrar of credit unions. recently, the trinidad and tobago government announced the intention to amend the financial institutions act to bring large credit unions under the regulatory control of the central bank. the rationale was that that these institutions were essentially conducting business of a “ banking nature ” and should be regulated as banks, while the other credit unions involved in more traditional activities would continue to be supervised elsewhere. having examined the fia, it may indeed be more complicated than originally envisaged to adapt this piece of legislation to the credit unions. our research shows that legislation intended for commercial banks is generally inappropriate for credit unions, whose purpose is to provide cooperative financial services to members who are their depositors, their borrowers and their owners. credit unions are different from commercial banks because of a number