This Monday, August 15, the National Development Agency (ANDE) celebrated the National Day of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which by decree is commemorated every August 13. In the Executive Tower Annex building, the first National Meeting of SME Centers was also held until this Tuesday.
This first Meeting of SME Centers brought together strategic partners in the country’s capital, such as chambers and private business organizations -responsible for the territorial and operational management of the centers, and the technical teams that serve companies and enterprises. There are currently 18 SME Centers distributed in 15 departments, and another three will be inaugurated this year, reaching the entire interior. These spaces offer advice and technical and financial support for the development of MSMEs, which according to the latest data, number 197,000 throughout the country. MSMEs make up 67% of the national workforce and represent 40% of GDP. In particular, in the interior of the country, they generate 77% of the existing job opportunities.
The president of ANDE Carmen Sánchez participated in the opening with authorities, together with the Minister of Economy and Finance Azucena Arbeleche, the Secretary of the Presidency Álvaro Delgado and the Vice President of the Republic Beatriz Argimón. Labor Minister Pablo Mieres and authorities from INEFOP, INACOOP and Uruguay XXI, among other institutions, accompanied ANDE directors Martín Ambrosi and Federico Perdomo. Speaking, Carmen Sánchez assured that “the policy to promote MSMEs must focus on reducing the productivity gap, and this must be done by promoting Business Development services throughout the country, with a true decentralization of public support”. She added that the objective is that “local MSMEs adopt the SME Centers as their reference in everything related to business development services, training, advice, and as a source of information on the different public supports.”
For his part, ANDE Territorial Development Manager Diego García Da Rosa presented the numbers achieved in one year of operation of the 18 SME Centers that today serve MSMEs and enterprises in 15 departments. “It has been possible to reach 2,044 beneficiaries from 101 localities in the interior of the country, which constitutes a true decentralization,” he explained.
After the opening with the authorities, the workshops of the National Meeting of SME Centers began. The workshop “Exchange on national instruments to support MSMEs” was held together with the technical teams of the different SME Centers and the different institutions that work with the sector. The day closed with the workshop “New business models and strategies for organizational change”, with the participation of the Strategic Partners of each SME Center (Shopping Centers, Business Chambers and Departmental Development Agencies, responsible for managing the program in the territory ).
On the second day of the meeting, the workshop “The meaning of teamwork” was held, together with the technical teams; and the workshop on “good practices and success stories in the operational and strategic management of the SME Center”, together with the Strategic Partners. To end the 1st National Meeting of SME Centers, ANDE’s Evaluation and Monitoring Manager, Gastón Carracelas, presented the Program’s Evaluation strategy, and at the end, an exchange of all the participants with the ANDE Board of Directors took place.
The main objective of this meeting was to collect inputs on the implementation of the program at the territorial level, one year after its launch, to detect opportunities for improvement in business development services and identify challenges for the country’s MSMEs.
