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Business Development Strategies For Commonwealth SMEs

24 March 2005

George Saibel
"Low levels of education, poor management, weak marketing skills and inadequate technical know-how are obstacles to SMEs."
The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of Singapore organised a five-day seminar in Singapore from 14 to 18 March 2005 to promote business development services in the Commonwealth. Organised in collaboration with the International Trade Institute of Singapore, it involved 23 participants from Commonwealth countries. They comprised senior managers from the public sector involved with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and executives from national business associations.

The seminar, titled 'Strategies for Enhancing SME Competitiveness for Commonwealth Developing Countries', was sponsored by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation and Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The aim of the seminar was to share knowledge on the role business development services can play in promoting the competitiveness of SMEs. 

George Saibel, Director of the Special Advisory Services Division of the Secretariat, said: "Low levels of education, poor management, weak marketing skills and inadequate technical know-how are obstacles to SMEs. Faced with limited access to markets, unreliable infrastructure and lack of information, these SMEs cannot maximise their potential to develop their businesses."

Mr Saibel stated that Commonwealth developing countries should create an enabling environment for business development services that will be beneficial to industries, corporations, and particularly SMEs. This included infrastructure and government policies.

The seminar demonstrated how successful business strategies such as those developed in Singapore could further enhance the development of SMEs in the Commonwealth. It also highlighted key policy and regulatory challenges affecting the strategies for delivering business development services.

The event was led by a team of experts from the Secretariat, International Trade Institute of Singapore and other institutions who shared their theoretical and practical knowledge in managing national competitiveness strategies in developing countries. 

Participant Alisi Kautoke of Tonga's Ministry of Labour, Commerce and Industry said: "This workshop helped us to identify areas for improvement and provided solutions on how to formulate and improve strategies for business development services and SMEs in a sustainable way."

Palipa Lauti of the Tuvalu Chamber of Commerce commented: "It was good to learn about the benefits of promoting business development through clustering, which brings together related industries that complement the business environment in a small economy."

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 227 23 March 2005

 

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