Addressing a consultation on the sector, Private Sector Facilitator of the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat, Leela Ramoutar, said more than 10 years later, the “challenges remain exactly what they are, challenges.
“We have not dealt with these challenges in any significant ways. What I would say now is that the identified constraints are by themselves enough to bring the SME sector to its knees.
“Having said all of this, it is therefore not unreasonable to ask why. Why after years of hard work millions of dollars we have not achieved the desired results, why are these constraints still a nightmare for the SME sector.
“Collectively I would say we are all responsible and this includes the SME sector itself. Some pertinent questions that should be of concern to all of us are ‘have we approached SME development in a holistic way, Can governments given the priority attention they should to SME development….”.
She said it was also important to question whether or the donor community “really listened to us in the region in terms of what our real needs are”.
The consultation is being held under the theme “Towards an Agenda for improved Performance for the Small Business Sector”.
Executive Director of the Employment Small Business Agency Alexander Stephenson welcomed the consultation, noting that “persons have complained that the environment required for the establishment of the sector is challenging”.
He said the non existence of a documented policy and associated legislation has not made this challenge any easier.
”There are policies and legislation in place which pertain to enterprise development however the evidence is that those do not adequately address the needs of micro and small businesses,” he added.
CMC/ad/ir/2012