Addressing the opening ceremony of an exposition hosted by the Small Business Association of Jamaica (SMAJ) on Wednesday at its Trafalgar Road headquarters, Paulwell pointed out that the recently passed e-commerce Bill would deliver greater prospects to small businesses, as they would be able to bypass expensive advertising to reach a greater market via the world wide web.

"A web presence today can get you into the living rooms of thousands and millions of homes across the globe and that is where we want to be especially if we are marketing to niche areas," the Minister said.

He informed that the Trade Board would be authenticating e-businesses through the provision of security features such as e-signatures that would make e-transactions more legitimate.  Furthermore, Minister Paulwell informed that the Government was steps closer to a paperless society through the institution of the e-commerce bill, as tax payment transactions were now possible over the Internet.

"It is going to make life easier for businesses as well as you have a lot to do with the government.  You have to pay your taxes [and] purchase certain services.  You are going to be able to do that now without having to incur the unnecessary expenses of having to go to an office to wait long hours to do those transactions," he said.

Paulwell also used the opportunity to highlight legislation that has been enacted to facilitate the business sector.  "Two thousand four saw the historic promulgation of our new Companies Act.  This law has enabled Jamaica to be viewed some much more positively in terms of how we do business and how we facilitate business in this country, so you now have the provision of a one person company that you never had before.

The process has been simplified to enable registration and all in all it lends itself to enabling smaller persons to be incorporated as businesses," he outlined.  The SBAJ's month of activities, being observed under the theme 'Fostering entrepreneurship in Jamaica sector by sector', was launched by governor general, Professor Kenneth Hall on November 2.

During this month, there will be a training programme which commenced on Friday, according to SBAJ President, Oswald Smith.

"We are in the process of implementing our strategic plan to put the association in a position to fully support the development of Small and Medium Enterprises to enable them to compete effectively locally and globally," Smith said.

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