The Diplomat
The permanent secretary of CEIB, Narciso Casado, and the head of Economy and Business of SEGIB, Jaume Gaytán, presented yesterday in Medellin a document of Commitment to MSMEs, agreed by nearly 70 representatives of the public and private sector of 22 Iberoamerican countries.
Casado and Gaytán presented the document to the Ibero-American Secretary General, Andrés Allamand; the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Germán Umaña; the President of ProColombia, Carmen Caballero, and her counterpart in CEIB, María Paz Jervis. The document was agreed upon during the first day of the VI Ibero-American Forum of MSMEs in Medellin, which brings together nearly 1,000 participants from all over the region.
“This commitment highlights the important role of MSMEs as the driving force of society and lists some of the priorities to promote their productivity and competitiveness in the current scenario,” said the CEOE. It will also serve as a contribution to the next Ibero-American Business Meeting, to be held within the framework of the XXIX Summit of Heads of State and Government in November 2024 in Ecuador.
Meeting in Medellin, the government representatives and the heads of Ibero-American business organizations, members of CEIB and the International Organization of Employers-OIE, discussed the challenges and opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises in the region, and decided to draw up this Decalogue, which constitutes a declaration of intent for the progress, development, growth and resilience of the region’s MSMEs.
Casado and Gaytán stressed that the public and private sectors in Ibero-America are committed to promoting and participating in the creation of sources of financing for MSMEs, promoting dialogue to simplify and harmonize the regulatory framework in tax and labor matters -the key to reducing informality- and contributing to the collection of data to better understand the situation of MSMEs and act accordingly.
The document also shows the joint commitment to make visible and better identify trade opportunities for MSMEs within the region, promote the development and strengthen small-scale agro-industrial chains to gain in competitiveness and, above all, promote technical assistance and training for MSMEs in internationalization, digital transformation and implementation of technologies for productivity.
In terms of digitalization and sustainability, the public and private sectors firmly believe in the need to promote sustainable initiatives and practices, accelerate the process of digital transformation and technification of MSMEs, with public policies adapted to the industrial reality of each country, and commit to promote projects of just ecological transition, inclusive digital transformation, human development and health resilience, which favor MSMEs within the framework of the Investment Agenda for Latin America and the Caribbean, of the Global Gateway strategy of the European Union.
With this Decalogue, government representatives and business leaders aim to implement a roadmap for the region’s MSMEs in order to facilitate and support their internationalization process, help them acquire scale, increase their productivity and enable them to compete within and beyond the borders of Ibero-America.
