SELA reiterates need to promote public policies to strengthen development of MSMEs in the region

The Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA) held the Seminar: Business acceleration mechanisms: Supporting the development of MSMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean, where it presented the economic growth scenarios and their impact on MSMEs in the region. The Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Clarems Endara, highlighted the need to strengthen the production capacity of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region by promoting public policies.

“The work agenda aimed at MSMEs must focus on innovation and new public policies that stimulate the development and growth of startups and already established companies that seek to strengthen and improve their production capacity,” the Permanent Secretary said.

He underlined that in 2022 Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a major reopening with respect to both internal and external constraints brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to much faster growth for smaller companies in the region compared to previous years.

“However, the performance of the economy was dissimilar during the first and second half of the year, and in fact the growth of sectors such as manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and the services sector had heterogeneous results,” he added.

Hence the need to promote the implementation of assistance programmes for MSMEs that include variables such as business incubation and acceleration. “In this way, business acceleration and incubation programmes play a decisive role in building capacities and implementing and improving tools for the businessman or entrepreneur, making it easier to obtain financing and providing more long-term expectations for the life cycle of a company, thus boosting the reactivation of the regional economy,” the Permanent Secretary pointed out.

Next, Karla Sánchez, SELA's Analyst for Economic Recovery, detailed the performance, prospects and impact of the economic scenarios on the business ecosystem of MSMEs in the region. Even though inflationary pressures persist, enterprises have adapted to the new normality where digitalization and training are particularly important, but government support is essential. Therefore, SELA's Work Programme proposes the development of public policies to promote productive sectors, strengthen business models and develop new markets for the SME business ecosystem in the region.

The Seminar: Business acceleration mechanisms: Supporting the development of MSMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean, organised by SELA, was attended by Ambassador Mónica Martínez Menduiño, Deputy Secretary for Cooperation, Technical Assistance and Support to SMEs at ALADI; Estefanía Abigail Cañas Medina, Technical Coordinator of Information Systems and Data Mining of CENPROMYPE; América Castiblanco, Vice-President of Acceleration and Entrepreneurship at INNPulsa Colombia; María Alejandra Hernández, Programmes and Mentoring Manager at Impact Hub Caracas; Saúl Morales Jáuregui, PHD Entrepreneurship and Enterprising of the Ministry of Economy of Guatemala; and José Guillermo Morales Paulino, Vice-Minister for the Promotion of MSMEs of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs of the Dominican Republic.