Friday, July 01, 2005
Promoting Change. Small Business Reform and the Multilateral Investment Fund
By: Paul Holden, The Enterprise Research Institute, 2001
The paper focuses on issues of particular importance to small business and examines and reviews the contribution of MIF in each area. It looks at factors that affect the formation of small formal businesses, factors that promote small business growth, how these factors relate to the private sector more generally, and the role of the MIF in helping small businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper starts with a discussion of why small businesses are important. It then reviews the factors that are important in the establishment and growth of small businesses. While many of the issues are important to the private sector more generally, the paper focuses specifically on issues that are important to small business because this group has the greatest potential to generate employment and alleviate poverty in the region. The paper then identifies some of the areas in which the MIF has been active in assisting small business in Latin America and the Caribbean, pointing out some of the strengths and weaknesses of what has been done. Finally, it suggests some areas where the MIF can effectively focus to maximize its contribution towards assisting small business in the region. It also makes some suggestions regarding how the MIF can best implement small business projects.
The paper focuses on issues of particular importance to small business and examines and reviews the contribution of MIF in each area. It looks at factors that affect the formation of small formal businesses, factors that promote small business growth, how these factors relate to the private sector more generally, and the role of the MIF in helping small businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean. The paper starts with a discussion of why small businesses are important. It then reviews the factors that are important in the establishment and growth of small businesses. While many of the issues are important to the private sector more generally, the paper focuses specifically on issues that are important to small business because this group has the greatest potential to generate employment and alleviate poverty in the region. The paper then identifies some of the areas in which the MIF has been active in assisting small business in Latin America and the Caribbean, pointing out some of the strengths and weaknesses of what has been done. Finally, it suggests some areas where the MIF can effectively focus to maximize its contribution towards assisting small business in the region. It also makes some suggestions regarding how the MIF can best implement small business projects.