April 16, 2012 No. 19/12-G The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) will host a three-day Regional Training of Trainers workshop on "Financial Management Techniques and Management Techniques for Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs)" during the period April 17-19, 2012. The workshop will be conducted through CDB's Caribbean Technological Consultancy Services (CTCS) Network, which contributes to strengthening private sector capabilities by linking people who have business and technical experience with businesses that need consulting advice and assistance. This is the first in a series of training of trainers workshops in various technical disciplines to be launched by the CTCS Network aimed at improving the business skills of MSMEs and to make training and resource opportunities more accessible to this sub-sector. The workshop will equip 45 resource persons throughout CDB's borrowing member countries (BMCs), who already have specific professional financial and management backgrounds, with a common approach for delivering training in Financial Management Techniques and Management Techniques for MSMEs. Among the areas which the workshop will address are: identifying common challenges MSMEs face in the identification and interpretation of financial and management issues; developing an appropriate set of parameters for training MSMEs in financial and management techniques over a range of business sectors; developing a common methodology for training MSMEs practitioners in applying financial and management techniques within pre-set parameters; developing a Standardised Training Content (STC); building appropriate technical models to support topics covered in the STC; designing user friendly case studies and role plays to re-enforce training concepts developed in the STC; and establishing common assessment indicators to facilitate monitoring of the impact of training provided to MSME in financial and management techniques. Participants will also discuss establishing a local and accessible CTCS Network resource available in each BMC to provide on-the-ground support through direct access or on-line support; and establishing a regional CTCS network of resource persons with a common special interest and discipline. The workshop is to be held at the Accra Beach Hotel & Spa in Barbados.