SELA organizes workshops on public policies for small and medium-sized enterprises

Caracas, July 25, 2014.- The Permanent Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic System (SELA), along with the governments of Bolivia, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago, conducts three regional workshops on public policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in July and August 2014.

The first workshop is taking place in La Paz, Bolivia, until 25 July. It is organized jointly with the Vice-Ministry of Micro and Small-sized Enterprises, of the Ministry of Productive Development and Plural Economy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia.

The second one will be held on 29 and 30 July in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, with the participation of the Secretariat of Economic Development of the government of the Republic of Honduras.

The third workshop will be conducted in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 18 and 19 August, with the support of the Ministry of Employment, Micro and Small-sized Enterprises of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), which will provide logistical support and its headquarters as the venue for the event.

SELA is a regional organization for consultation, coordination, cooperation and economic and social promotion made up by sovereign Latin American and Caribbean States. Its main objective is to support integration processes in the region.

SELA has carried out several events in various Member States, such as seminars, workshops and specific courses linked to the design of public policies to support SMEs, entrepreneurship, innovation and a variety of topics, where the issue of public policies has been dealt with. It has also conducted studies aimed at identifying best practices as regards the public policies applied in the region.

The Permanent Secretary of SELA, Ambassador Roberto Guarnieri, pointed out that one of the priority areas of the Work Programme of SELA for 2014 is economic and technical cooperation as a way to contribute to regional development and integration. Within this area, eleven activities have been foreseen as part of the Latin American and Caribbean Programme for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SELA-SMEs Programme).

Those activities include: Regional Training Workshops on public policies for SMEs; a Meeting on Caribbean export consortiums; a Seminar-Workshop on productive coordination in Latin America and the Caribbean; a Regional Workshop on Development of Handicrafts SMEs; a Seminar on credit guarantee systems in the Caribbean; a Seminar on promotion of innovation to improve competitiveness of SMEs; a Seminar on the garment industry and economic development in the Caribbean; a Meeting on institutional strengthening of SMEs business associations; and a Meeting of SMEs entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The three workshops have similar agendas. The workshop to be held in La Paz begins with an opening session led by a representative of SELA and a representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, followed by an introductory session with a description of public policies for SMEs and their importance for the development of the sector. Later on, there will be presentations on public policies in the countries of the region, including: Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The event will also deal with the sub-regional achievements to support public policies. Presentation will also be delivered on issues such as productive coordination policies, public policies for SMEs and development of entrepreneurship –by a representative of Brazil– and internationalization of SMEs.

The agenda of the workshop in Tegucigalpa includes the following sessions: An opening session by the respective representatives of SELA, the Centre for Promotion of Micro and Small-sized Enterprises (CENPROMYPE) and the Government of Honduras; description of public policies for SMEs and their importance for the development of the sector; presentations on public policies by officials of the countries of the region: Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Panama; promotion of SMEs policies; public policies for access to financing and technology transfer; public policies for SMEs and the development of entrepreneurship and development services; internationalization of SMEs and access to markets.

The opening session of the workshop in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, speakers will include representatives of the ACS, SELA and the Government of the host country.

Afterwards, there will be a session focused on describing public policies for SMEs and their importance for the development of the sector. Then presentations will be made on public policies in the field of SMEs in countries of the region: Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Barbados and Haiti.

The following session will include analyses of policies to promote SMEs by representatives of the ACS, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Then, representatives of Jamaica, Belize, Suriname and Guyana will make presentation on public policies on SMEs.

There will also be a session dedicated to productive coordination policies and other public policies for SMEs, as well as the development of entrepreneurship and internationalization of SMEs.