TRADE and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon has presented two local manufactures with grant funding to assist with the acquisition of new machinery and equipment.
In a release, the ministry said the total grant funding amounted to $471,867.
The release said the Grant Fund Facility (GFF) was launched in November 2017 and remained accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to provide support for capacity building and technological advancements across various non-energy sectors of the economy, including manufacturing.
Gopee-Scoon congratulated the two recent beneficiaries, Pinguino Purified Water Limited (Pinguino) and Caribbean Adhesives and Chemicals Limited (CACL), on their 'aptitude to strategically invest and expand amidst the unprecedented times being experienced as a result of the on-going pandemic.'
She was quoted as saying, 'These manufacturers have capitalized on the financial resources afforded to them as they embark on their new ventures. Their implementation of new technology and decisions to diversify and expand reflect their inclination to not only survive, but thrive and increase their competitiveness.'
Pinguino, a domestic manufacturer of purified and alkaline water, was granted funding in October 2021 in the amount of $221,867.00 to assist with the manufacturing of recyclable bottles.
Pinguino is currently expanding its operations and extending its product line to include additional sizes of bottled water for both the local and export markets.
Rather than importing new packaging material, the company is in the process of purchasing new machinery and equipment to locally produce them as a form of backward integration, the release said.
'Additionally, the company has been taking the necessary strides to successfully penetrate foreign markets and bolster local exports. To aid its expansion, Pinguino required new semi-automated machinery, for which it applied for funding. The acquisition will ensure consistency in the production of the bottles and aid in improving the company's competitiveness in export markets,' the release added.
Caribbean Adhesives and Chemicals, a medium-sized enterprise operating in the chemical products sub-sector of the manufacturing sector, received funding under the facility in February 2022 in the amount of $250,000.00 to assist in the production of packaging material for its products.
The company manufactures and distributes a range of solvents, adhesives and chemicals, including the entire Dunlop line of products, for which metal cans are predominantly used as packaging.
'As CACL is actively expanding its exports, the company requires not only an increase in packaging material, but a consistent supply to sustain projected demands. In lieu of importing finished metal cans, CACL took the decision to invest in a semi-automated assembly system to domestically manufacture metal cans for use in the packaging of its products, and for commercial sale.
'In addition to this backward integration initiative, the company is concomitantly dive
