National Strategy to Develop Small, Medium-Sized Enterprises

DAMASCUS, (ST)- Ministry of Industry recently revealed that the Syrian Business and Enterprises Center (SBEC) has re-formulated the national strategy for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in order to fully fit with the requirements of the stage and the challenges that have arisen about in the light of the Cabinet’s directions.

The ministry showed that the objectives of the strategy focused on uniting the efforts of the parties concerned within the framework of a unified work and developing the Syrians’ vision towards private enterprises and ensure data on small and medium enterprises. 

The strategy assumed creation of the national commission for small and medium-sized enterprises as an essential step to be carried out so to coordinate and implement the strategic orientations of the proposed projects between all government agencies concerned.

The ministry has proposed the adoption of a strategy of small and medium enterprises to provide the initial ground work to improve the private business in the sector of small and medium-sized enterprises. The ministry  called for waiting to create  the small and medium-sized enterprises’ board, upon providing an integrated vision on the mechanism of creation the board and its functioning.

Regarding the financing by the Central Bank of Syria for small and medium enterprises, the study included the importance of the small and medium enterprises and a description of the reality of the moment in Syria and its ability to obtain the necessary funding for the exercise of their activities and procedures of the Central Bank of Syria to support this sector with revenues and a set of proposals to support and revitalize the work of small and medium enterprises.

The study examined the integration of small and medium enterprises and micro enterprises at the same time and this subject is not just economically. The process of dealing with micro-enterprises are quite different from the mechanism to deal with small and medium-sized enterprises from the state policy towards business strategy.

With regard to the proposal of funding for small and medium enterprises, the ministry showed that the central bank introduced an appropriate proposal for the funding process, but the proposal did not accompanied by a study of the expected impact to approve the funding mechanism.

It is necessary to prepare a study to evaluate  the impact according to two models, the second takes into account lower interest rates with the separation of interest rates between micro projects, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as to develop a proposal for an Islamic financing mechanism for these projects in order to reach the largest possible number of customers.

Concerning the future proposals, the ministry suggested the adoption of a strategy of small and medium enterprises to be the core vision for the development of the legislative and regular framework to convert these projects to a private joint-stock or normal companies.

Sharif al -Khatib