BACKGROUND
The design and implementation of public policies to support SMEs must be aimed at generating instruments and tools that promote their development. This is directly linked to the substantive improvement of business competitiveness and productivity, on the basis, inter alia, of better infrastructure, easy access to information for decision-making, better management of available knowledge, access to technology, promotion of innovation, administrative and legal regulations that facilitate the creation of businesses, as well as more and better options that ensure access to credit and markets.
During the year 2014, three regional workshops on public policies for promotion and support of SMEs were held in different venues: Bolivia for South American countries, Honduras for Central American nations and Trinidad and Tobago for Caribbean countries.
In these meetings, different mechanisms and methodologies were presented, in particular those implemented by countries in the region in the design, implementation and evaluation of public policies. In addition, a proposal was made to create a network of dissemination and exchange of information among representatives of the States, in order to hold permanent consultations on issues of interest to institutions that have participated in the events and to exchange successful experiences. The information on these three workshops was compiled and analyzed to draw the main conclusions and recommendations presented in the document “Public policies to support MSMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean” (SP/CL/XL.O/Di N° 20-14).
Moreover, the “Regional Meeting on Public Policies for Promotion and Support of SMEs” was held in 2015 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. In this event, the Permanent Secretariat of SELA presented the document “Methodological considerations for developing an index of public policies for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean” (SP/RRPPPA-SME/DT N ° 3-15), which proposes the adaptation of the Index of Public Policies for SMEs developed by the OECD, considering the structural characteristics of the economies in the region. In 2016, the “Regional Meeting on Update Study on the Index of Public Policies for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean” will take place to continue and complement the efforts made.
