Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (SEDI)

Department of Economic Development

Workshops on MSME public policy

Promoting and Improving SME Competitiveness and Productivity in the Caribbean

  San Diego, California: September 6-7, 2011
Organized cooperation with the Caribbean Export Development Agency, ASBDC, and the Regional SBDC of the University of Texas at San Antonio, with funding from the U.S. Mission to the OAS

Highlights:

  • The third regional workshop was held in the framework of the Annual Conference of the ASBDC, which brings together over 1,800 representatives from the Small Business Development Centers of the United States, as well as representatives from SME support institutions from Latin American countries such as Chile, El Salvador, and Mexico.
  • A new project “Establishment of Small Business Development Centers in CARICOM Member States (2012-2014),” executed by the Office of Trade and funded by the U.S. Mission to the OAS will help improve the access of MSMEs in CARICOM to sustainable and effective services based on the SBDC model.

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Innovation and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Use for SME Productivity

San Antonio, Texas: September 21-22, 2010
Organized in collaboration with the ASBDC and the Center for the Promotion of Small Businesses in Central America (CENTROMYPE), financed by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Highlights:

  • The second regional workshop promoted best practices including the US SBDCs and the experiences of Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, and Singapore, among other countries.
  • The implementation of the SBDC model in El Salvador was presented as a reference for other countries in the Central American region to deploy SME services and advise with a strong ICT component.
  • In a North-South and South-South cooperation effort, the initiative should lead to a network of efficient SME support centers benefiting from the expertise of cooperating countries and linked with, among others, the US 1,100 SBDCs and the 750,000 SME they serve annually.

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Trade and Poverty: Complementary Public Policies and the Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups in the Benefits of Trade

Panama City, Panama: December 3-4, 2009
Organized by the desd in coordination with the Panamanian Ministry of Trade and Industry and ECLAC

Highlights:

  • The Regional Dialogue offered an opportunity to policy makers to exchange lessons learned from successful complementary policies, strategies and programs to promote the participation of vulnerable groups in international trade.
  • A series of successful cases were presented showcasing MSMEs and small producers that have accessed the international markets by becoming part of export supply chains, participating in associations and cooperatives and taking advantage of the intangible value of their products and services. 
  • Participating high-level authorities stressed the importance of a space for dialogue among national and local authorities and stakeholders to share best practices and lessons learned that contribute towards evidence based MSME support policy responses.

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Promoting Enterprise and Competitiveness in SMEs through Best Practices: Government-Business-University Partnership Models

Orlando, Florida: September 14-15, 2009
Organized in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), on the occasion of the Annual Conference of the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC)

Highlights:

  • The first regional workshop provided a space for dialogue on policies to support MSMEs and for the exchange of best practices related to new organizational models based on government-business-academia partnerships as well as the use of the Internet and information and communication technologies (ICTs) for a more competitive MSME.
  • Mexico, Chile, Brazil and the United States, presented their country- experiences in supporting SME-competitiveness, including through the use of ICTs. 
  • Colombia and El Salvador requested support to implement the US model of Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) which, through government-business-academia partnerships, provide services to SMEs, including advice in the use of ICTs.
  • Since the Workshop 3 SBDCs were created in Colombia and 5 are in the process of development in El Salvador.  The Ministry of Economy of El Salvador is on a fast track to ramp up 17 SBDCs--including the graduation of 150 economic development professionals after completing a 120-hour training course to implement the SBDC methodology--to support a new SME approach for El Salvador's economic development. 

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