“We call the micro and small entrepreneurs, they will have the support of the government”, assured in May 2021 the then candidate and today president peter castle at a rally in Callao. Today it seems that the words were carried away by the wind.
The president of the Association of Small Business Unions, SME Peru, Ana María Choquehuanca, affirmed that the president has not met with them so far to listen to them and attend to their requests in the face of the crisis they are facing as a result of the pandemic.
“We invited him to an event we had in April or May and he told us in August that he would not attend. The reading of that is that he is not interested in the sector”, he assured and reported that there are around 530,000 businesses that have gone bankrupt, closed or migrated.
Among the claims made by micro and small businesses (mypes) are measures for reactivation, support with cheap credit financing, budget for MyPerú purchases and that these purchases be made directly to them, among others.
All this, Choquehuanca explained, was revealed to Premier Aníbal Torres a few days ago. In addition, they have requested to talk with the head of state.
“As Peru SMEs, we met with the premier, hoping that our situation can be resolved and he promised to form a technical committee,” he said.
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Faced with this annoyance and neglect, yesterday hundreds of representatives of the mype marched in order to reach the Government Palace to present their demands to the president. This march was organized by the Front for the Defense of Industry and Commerce, and businessmen from various sectors participated, such as Gamarra, Round Table, footwear, among others.
Since they could not reach their destination, the protesters stayed half a block from Congress. Here, Gamarra’s representative, Susana Saldaña, said that the Palace told them that the premier and the president “are too busy” to receive them. “They don’t receive us because we’re not ayayeros, because we’re not bootlickers? We are entrepreneurs,” she said.
Later, a group of businessmen entered the Legislative Palace and met with the President of Parliament, José Williams, and part of the Board of Directors. They expressed their discomfort to the legislators and asked that the Minister of Production, Jorge Luis Prado, be questioned and censured.
After this meeting they received a call from the Government Palace to attend, but here they had a meeting with the head of the advisory cabinet, Luis Alberto Mendieta, and the head of Production, who promised to analyze their demands.
EXECUTIVE RESPONSE
The Council of Ministers, as reported by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, approved the creation of Impulso Myperú, which will grant targeted guarantees for loans aimed at working capital, acquisition of fixed assets and debt consolidation of mypes.
The MEF specified that they are S / 2,000 million in credits in favor of this sector and assured that 140,000 micro and small companies will benefit.
DATA
-The National Society of Industries called on the government to make a “true defense of the national production of MSMEs.”
-He asked that the law that indicates that 40% of State purchases be from national mypes be complied with.
