Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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Employers’ organizations and the promotion of

small and medium-sized enterprises

Practical experiences from seven countries

Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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Importance of SMEs• Small enterprises account for the vast majority of

new jobs in all countries.

• ILO Recommendation: 189 General Conditions to Stimulate Job Creation in Small and Medium Enterprises.recognises SMEs as a critical factor in economic

growth and development, increasingly responsible for the creation of the majority of jobs throughout the world; and can help create an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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Role of Employers’ Organizations

• EOs are uniquely positioned to support the emergence and development of SMEs since:already part of private sector networks understand enterprise culture and needs, access to policy-makers and other social partners.

ILO Rec. 189 recommends that EOs widen their membership base to include SMEs and list actions that they can undertake to

contribute to the development of the sector

Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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The practice• EOs widely recognise the important contribution

of the SME sector to their nation’s social and economic development

• Many EOs have tried to support the development of SME sector from which we can learn:Thus this study of experiences from:

• Asia: the Philippines and Singapore.

• Africa: Ghana, Senegal and Mauritania.

• Europe: Ireland and Croatia.

Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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Roles that EOs can adopt• An employers’ organization can:

Represent SMEsAdvocate on behalf of SMEsProvide services

• directly

• Indirectly, as a broker or linker to other service providers

Commonly EOs adopts a combination of roles, however, experiences show that it is important that they carefully analyze

the costs and benefits of different options. Too often EOs adopt roles that they can not sustain!

Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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Success factors• Internal factors

A clear strategy to support SMEs – what role?Structure of representation applicable to SME

• Direct membership – with or without special conditions• Membership through affiliates

Staff assigned Financing

• External factorsPartnerships

• Government • Other business agencies• Other advocacy and representation organizations

Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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Deciding to consider broadening support to the SME sector

Assess

Implement and communicate

Needs of the SME sector

Your organizations capacity

Other organizations supporting the sector

Develop a strategy Role/s

Membership structureWork plan

StaffingBudget

Communicate

Monitor and evaluate

Employers’ organizations and the promotion of SMEs

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Future support

• Together, IOE, and the ILO’s ACT/EMP and EMP/ENT are intensifying their collaboration so as to providing improved guidance and support to EOs in the promotion of SMEs

• A key component will be a tool-kit that “guides” EOs through the process of developing and implementing a SME promotion strategy .