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CIDI of the OAS Received the Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade of Costa Rica

The Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI) of the Organization of American States (OAS) received on Tuesday in a regular meeting Mayi Antillón Guerrero, Minister of Economy, Industry and Trade of Costa Rica, who shared her country's experiences in the design and management of public policies for the promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as the core of inclusive economic development.

"No one country has written the recipe, all countries have important ingredients to contribute," said Minister Antillón, who stressed the value of a forum such as the OAS that provides a space where members can share their successful experiences and receive support for horizontal cooperation initiatives that leverage the lessons learned from other innovative programs in the region.

"The word of our time is inclusion," said the Costa Rican Minister, "economic inclusion, inclusion with opportunities." In that sense, she highlighted the importance of reorienting policies to support micro, small and medium enterprises to more effectively meet the needs of the different regions of each country. Such inclusion also involves greater opportunities for women, she emphasized, because "those who invest in women also invest in families and society."

In her speech, Minister Antillón stressed the need for policies that integrate key axes for the development of the sector: innovation, human resource training for entrepreneurship, the financial arm and participation in internal and external trade, including public procurement. This, added the senior Costa Rican official, requires the involvement of all relevant actors: governments, the private sector and universities with detailed programs to measure the impact of public resources, cooperation and input from other partners in terms of jobs, economic and equitable impact.

After the intervention of Minister Antillón, delegations from the member states discussed their experiences in the field, sharing policies and programs that have been developed to support the sector and highlighting some cooperative experiences to replicate successful models taking into account the specific realities of each country. One example highlighted by several delegations was the program of support centers for small businesses in the United States (SBDCs, or Small Business Development Centers) currently being adapted in several countries in the region, including in Central America and the Caribbean, and the Small Business Network of the Americas (SBNA) initiative. Representatives also recognized the experiences of other countries that have served as a model for initiatives in the region such as the Brazilian Service of Support for Micro and Small Enterprises (SEBRAE), the newly created Institute of Entrepreneurship in Mexico, the regional level initiative of Colombia and the promotion of cooperatives and other production units in the case of Venezuela.

Brazil took the opportunity to invite all member states to the Third Inter-American Dialogue of Senior MSME Authorities on "Public Policies to Promote Competitiveness, Innovation and Internationalization of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises," to be held in Brasilia from November 11 to 13, with the support of the newly created Ministry of Micro and Small Enterprises, SEBRAE, SEDI and with financial assistance from the Government of Canada.

In conclusion, the OAS Executive Secretary for Integral Development, Sherry Tross , stressed the importance of inclusion and development in all the work of the organization. She thanked Minister Antillón and the participants for their contributions and expressed her belief that dialogues like this will result in concrete steps towards a sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development in the region.

At the end of the session, the CIDI agreed to request that SEDI continue supporting the Third Inter-American Dialogue of Senior MSME Authorities, strengthening member state institutions in support of the sector, promoting a cross-sectoral approach in the work that the Secretariat develops in this area, and supporting cooperation and the exchange of best practices in the promotion of micro, small and medium enterprises.

During the meeting, the representatives of Barbados, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Dominica, El Salvador, the United States, Mexico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Venezuela took the floor.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-319/13