Project assistance completion report [: BIMAP component of regional development training project]

BIMAP worked directly with over 400 small and medium-size businesses in ten Caribbean countries and trained over 600 managers. Enterprises which received assistance from BIMAP showed improvement in employee work habits and skills. This project experienced long start-up delays. A mid-term evaluation in 12/85 made a number of recommendations, of which the most significant was to reorganize the project in order to: (1) provide more effective promotion, follow-up, scheduling, training, and reporting; and (2) enable BIMAP to focus more completely on what it does best (i.e., providing training and counseling services to small and medium-size businesses in areas of accounting, financing, computerization and costing) in a reduced number of participating countries. Following this recommendation, the technical and geographical focus of the project was reduced. Training and consultancy services were provided in a reduced number of technical areas primarily to six Eastern Caribbean countries. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between BIMAP and the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) to secure promotion of this project by CAIC, and to encourage collaboration between BIMAP and the A.I.D.-funded Small Enterprise Assistance project implemented by CAIC. The object of the collaboration was to (a) avoid duplication of efforts and (b) encourage the recognition of BIMAP as a deliverer of services in certain defined areas of management training and consultancy. One of the important lessons learned is that if an institution without a regional mandate is selected as grantee for a regional project, a more intensive promotional effort is needed to encourage region-wide acceptance of that institution as implementing agency for the project. Many of the delays experienced in implementation were related to the unanticipated length of time and effort which BIMAP had to invest to gain an entree into the business communities of many of the Eastern Caribbean countries. BIMAP satisfied all preconditions in the Grant Agreement and adhered to the special covenants. The low level of counterpart contribution is due to (a) a lower rate of fee collection than anticipated and (b) training for a smaller number of BIMAP staff than planned, thus requiring a lower level of BIMAP contribution to meet salary of staff in training. (Author abstract, modified)