She gave a brief background to the project, noting that IBIS was conceived out of the need to carve new paths for Trinidad & Tobago's economic transformation from an energy-based economy to one more focused on innovation and the acquisition of knowledge, talents and expertise.
"IBIS is a viable mechanism for new and advanced opportunities for wealth creation and poverty alleviation," she said. "From an entrepreneurial perspective, the introduction of IBIS comes at a time when our country is in need of an increased entrepreneurship drive."
She added, "What my Government is doing through IBIS, is equipping you with the necessary resources to realize your dreams and in doing so, creating greater avenues for personal growth while building more prosperous communities across the Nation.
She said one of the special features of the commercial business incubators is the use of the public-private partnership model, which Finance Minister Winston Dookeran discussed during the budget presentation on Monday.
"Knowledge must be applied, innovation must be encouraged and welcomed, if as individuals and as a Nation we are to grow and prosper," Persad-Bissessar said.
"We are a talented and creative people. We only have to consider the evolution of the steelpan or witness our successes in the areas of music, sport, and fashion to realize that we have the potential for developing sustainable business from these and other initiatives.
"IBIS will be that key which opens doors for us to establish meaningful linkages to the benefit of our local entrepreneurs and our trading partners as well."
However she was emphatic that IBIS is only one component of a new system. She said the Ministry of Labour has worked with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to establish a competitive business strategy that is supported by the European Union.
She pledged that her Government will continue do its part to create an enabling environment to support entrepreneurship and to create wealth, generate employment and support sustainable enterprises.
"But it is you, the candidates of IBIS and others like you who will determine whether such support will be successful," she said.
"I urge you to commit yourself to your businesses. Commit the time, commit the resources and most importantly, commit your energies to your business.
"And whenever you think that it is beyond you, just remember some of the success stories we have read and heard about over the years. You may be the next success story," she said.
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