Prime Minister, the Most Andrew Holness, is calling on parents to encourage their children to become entrepreneurs, as this can significantly boost our economy.

“I would say to parents that you need to start to have this kind of conversation with your children about them becoming entrepreneurs, about them understanding what risk is about, about getting the ideas and the innovation [and turning them into fruitful ventures],”

he said.

The Prime Minister was speaking at a function to honour the work of business mogul, Ian Levy, at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston, on December 15.

He further urged parents to motivate their children to be more than consumers and workers

“but people who can take the ideas that they have in their heads, go to the banks, go to a financier or go to a friend and mobilise the equity; who can take the risk of taking on a loan, renting a space for a factory, pulling all those factors of production together and making something of it,”

he added.

At the same time, Mr Holness implored Jamaicans to be more receptive towards entrepreneurs and the value they bring to the country through the opportunities they create and the resources they garner.

“It is an unfortunate element of our culture that people who are entrepreneurs and people who engage in risk-taking and people who go out and mobilise resources are sometimes looked upon negatively… but if we are to truly embrace the vision that we have of ourselves – Jamaica, the place of choice; Jamaica the great nation – we must, as a country, start to embrace our entrepreneurs and our businessmen [and women]…We need our business people and we must encourage them,”

he emphasised.