BACKGROUND
The design and implementation of efficient public policies for promoting and developing business initiatives is an area of particular interest, in view of the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises in the economic dynamics of Latin America and the Caribbean. Aware of this reality and committed to the boost of productive development in the region, the Permanent Secretariat prepared in 2015 the study “Methodological considerations for developing an SME Policy Index for Latin America and the Caribbean.”
This document makes a disaggregated analysis of the dimensions that must be taken into account for the development of an indicator that quantifies the impact of public policies to promote SMEs. Based on the experience of the Index of Public Policies prepared by the OECD, the study considers the structural characteristics of the region to obtain a rigorous methodological framework whose implementation can be extended to all countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this connection, the Permanent Secretariat presented this document at the Regional Meeting on Public Policies for Promotion and Support of SMEs, held in April 2015 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. In this event, the Government of Uruguay, specifically the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining - through the National Directorate of Crafts, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises - invited the Permanent Secretariat to expand details of the proposed methodology in Montevideo. In June 2015, the Government of Uruguay, through the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining, asked the Permanent Secretariat to provide technical support in the design and implementation of an index of public policies for SMEs in that country.
The Work Programme of SELA for 2016 includes the design of an Index of Public Policies for MSMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean (IPPALC) in the “Update Study on the Public Policy Index for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean (IPPPALC).” This document was presented in the “Regional Meeting on Update Study on the Public Policy Index for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean (IPPALC)” on 8 July 2016 in San José, Costa Rica. Participants in this event delved into the analysis of the index as a tool for productive transformation and articulation in the region, gained knowledge about the experiences of other regions in adapting the Public Policy Index for SMEs developed by the OECD and discussed about the status of public policies for SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In order to optimize the adoption of the IPPALC, the Permanent Secretariat considers it necessary to organize a workshop for the dissemination of a detailed procedural framework that facilitates the successful implementation of the index as analytical tool for the design of public policies. It should be noted that the adoption of these common approaches and visions, shared by the different countries in the region, will make it possible to compare results and use them for the design of long-term strategies aimed at the integration of markets and improvements in productivity.
