Thursday, November 12 – The Government of the Virgin Islands is reminding business owners and operators selected for the Establishment Survey that the deadline is fast approaching.
The deadline for completion of the survey is November 15 which means that completed questionnaires should be returned to the department by the close of business on Friday, November 13.
The original deadline was extended in October to give businesses additional time to complete the questionnaires, in the hope of achieving a higher response rate from the businesses which were randomly selected for the survey.
The questionnaires require businesses to provide information such as income, expenditure, inventory, fixed assets and financing. Business owners unable to complete the questionnaire can request assistance from the Development Planning Unit.
Statistician in the Development Planning Unit Mrs. Michele Richmond-Phillips told the Department of Information and Public Relations, “Any business requiring assistance with the survey package can contact the department to request assistance and we will gladly schedule an appointment at your convenience. Additionally businesses can provide us with their financial accounts and our staff members will complete the questionnaire using that data.”
She further stated, “You would realise that the deadline is right upon us and although we have had the cooperation of some, we are still hoping to receive more completed questionnaires or if necessary as we have been doing, assist businesses with filling out the data once they provide the information.”
Mrs. Phillips revealed that to date, of the 242 packages delivered to randomly selected businesses in June, the department has received 53 completed questionnaires which translate to a response rate of 22 percent. “I am making a final appeal to those of you who have not yet completed and returned the questionnaires to please do so. Statistics such as what we are collecting through this survey help to produce national accounts statistics which is a direct measure of the economic performance of the various sectors of the local economy.
She added, “The statistics calculated from the data gathered in the survey will inform Government’s policy making processes and private sector investment and growth decisions.”
Adding further encouragement to the selected businesses, the DPU statistician said, “The ordinary small business owner can use the statistics, specifically the Gross Domestic Product by economic activity or sector to make decisions on expansion within an existing activity or diversifying to another activity.”
This is the second establishment survey being conducted in the Territory. The first was carried out in 2008 and netted an 11 percent response rate from a total of 2,465 businesses.
The Development Planning Unit is responsible for acquiring and analysing statistics to facilitate economic planning and analysis. The unit functions under the umbrella of the Premier’s Office.
British Virgin Islands News