New ECLAC Publications Stress the Importance of SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean

Photo: Plan de Alfabetización Tecnológica Extremadura, Flickr

Studies carried out by ECLAC over the past years show that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are important economic entities for promoting the development of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. A substantial part of the population and the economy depend on the activity and performance of these enterprises as a result of their recognized capacity to generate employment and their participation in production.

According to ECLAC, SMEs are responsible for more than 40% of registered employment in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay; more than 30% in Colombia, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and between 25% and 30% in Chile, Ecuador and El Salvador. These percentages are higher when also taking into account microenterprises. Together, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises represent more than 93% of registered establishments in the region.

Over the past 20 years, governments in the region have developed instruments and support programmes to promote SMEs growth. They have implemented initiatives related to accessing credit, technical assistance to improve management and quality, the expansion of and search for markets, participation in foreign trade, human resources training and business development, among others.

However, there are still information problems in creating and using databases which reveal the scale and size of the universe of SMEs in each country. In addition, there are not enough impact assessments which would enable the effectiveness and coverage of the support instruments to be evaluated as a way of measuring the success of public policies.

For this reason, ECLAC stresses that to move forward in the design of support policies for these enterprises, it is necessary to consider alternative complementary policies to improve the implementation systems, establish institutional coordination mechanisms, develop public and private links and seek programme continuity for generating better capacities in institutions and accumulate lessons learned.

Over the past months, this regional commission of the United Nations, through its Production, Productivity and Management Division, has published a number of documents on SMEs in the region which show the wide range of initiatives which have been implemented to support their growth, as well as the problems and challenges of development which remain.

Some of the documents include Supporting SMEs: Development policies in Latin America and the Caribbean and Removing barriers: Financing SMEs in Latin America which provide studies on policies and support institutions for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in various countries in the region and examine financing systems and financial instruments which they may have access to.

Other publications analyse productive linkages in Mexico, policies that support micro and small enterprises in Brazil and innovation programmes for SMEs in the region, in particular in Argentina, Chile and Mexico.

In another study, prepared by ECLAC together with the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the use and dissemination of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the Argentine business network is discussed, and a compendium of SMEs successful experiences in innovation, international integration and social inclusion is presented.

All of these publications can be accessed on the ECLAC website.