–IPED celebrates 40-year milestone

-by NaAsia Bristol

From small ideas to thriving enterprises, the Institute of Private Enterprise Development is marking 40 years of transforming lives and supporting business growth across Guyana with over 146,000 loans disbursed over its lifetime.

Their legacy is one of transforming thousands of lives, with these loans amounting to over $65 billion, in critical support to small and micro-enterprises countrywide.

According to IPED Chief Executive Officer Jagdesh Haripershad, they have even gone beyond just providing loans.

“We have been impacting life in a positive way, helping people, creating employment, helping people to grow their business, support them, not only providing financing for them, but also supporting them with training, mentoring, technical advice, supervised credit, taking their ideas and help them to grow over a period of time”, he said.

IPED’s role in mentoring entrepreneurs has had a tangible effect on the growth of many businesses.

“People would have started with an idea, and today those businesses are big businesses, medium-sized businesses,” he added.

As the organisation marks this milestone, its impact stands as a testament to what is possible when people are given the tools and support to build a single idea into a lasting enterprise.