First Global Bank (FGB), Jamaica’s preferred business banking partner for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), returns with the fifth staging of its annual SME summit on Wednesday, July 20. 

The summit will be staged in a hybrid format and will be free of cost to registered participants.

Headlining the event is keynote speaker Juan Pablo Cuevas, vice president and head of business solutions for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean.  

Diego Camacho, Google’s head of New Business for North Latin America (LATAM), also leads the plenary session on ‘Digital Transformation and Marketing Strategies’ alongside Melanie Williams, technical secretariat for financial inclusion at the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ), who together will address maintaining a balance between innovation and compliance in the fintech and e-commerce sectors.

Being held under the theme, ‘Powering Possibilities in a Digital World‘, the 2022 FGB summit will focus on critical socioeconomic challenges impacting SMEs, with expert guidance from a stellar panel of local and international experts. 

Incoming acting president & CEO of FGB, Radcliffe Daley, explained, “We’re furthering our mandate to help our SME clients get ahead in life and business, and we were intentional about inviting an exciting line-up of international industry leaders to achieve this objective.  Represented on our panels are international payment solutions company – Visa; and the global giant in AI, search engine technology, and e-commerce – Google.”

“Our summit will be rounded out with an assortment of local thought leaders to secure full value for patrons of our half-day event. Participating SMEs can expect to benefit from the sharing of practical business solutions as the summit explores how SMEs can successfully navigate the rapidly advancing digital-first business environment,” Daley concluded.

The forum supports FGB’s business banking support objective for digital transformation.

The summit’s staple feature, the Virtual Marketplace, will see partners: Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), GK General Insurance Company; GK Capital Management, Allied Insurance Brokers, Bluedot, Bill Express, FX Traders, Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ), Yello Media, and Marketing Plus Communications onboard to provide support to patrons, so entrepreneurs are encouraged to take advantage of this element. 

FGB has also sweetened the deal for the summit’s patrons with the prospect of winning J$100,000 in a business bank account, a value-added market research solution from Bluedot, and a free digital marketing consultation from Marketing Plus Communications.

The summit is scheduled to begin at 9:00 am on Wednesday, July 20 via the Zoom web meeting platform.