They seek to boost access to financing for SMEs, which make up 98% of companies in Paraguay

Asuncion, IP Agency.- To enhance access to financing for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which make up 98% of the companies created in Paraguay, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC), through the Vice Ministry of MSMEs, and the National Institute of Cooperativism (Incoop) signed a framework agreement for inter-institutional cooperation, which seeks to have access to the financial data available for microenterprises in the cooperative sector.

Both institutions will give priority to the development and implementation of specific actions in support of the MSME sector and entrepreneurs to promote and coordinate the development and competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, they will promote entrepreneurship and the creation of new companies, support their formalization and market insertion; facilitate the access of microenterprises to financing, investment, training, technical assistance, advice and business development, as well as joint actions for the promotion and exchange of information.

The Vice Ministry of MSMEs and Incoop will work together to define public policies that best target the development of the cooperative sector and MSMEs.

In this context, the Vice Minister of MSMEs, Gustavo Giménez, indicated that so far there is only information on the banking system and the other part, which is the data on cooperatives, is missing.

He said that the first step is to develop both institutions, obtaining data that will form part of an observatory that will allow them to measure how many SMEs and what sectors are being served by the cooperative sector. “On the other hand, we can also give them a range of opportunities that are not only concentrated in the traditional banking sector,” he said.

He explained that the perception they have is clearly one of great support and participation of the MSME sector within the cooperative sphere, which allows the first steps and development to be taken through financing from the cooperative sector.

Credit quality

In turn, the interim head of Incoop, Carlos Romero Roa, said that the microenterprise ecosystem occupies an important place in the cooperative sector, which cannot be alien to the proposal of the Vice Ministry of MSMEs to improve the credit quality for this important sector of the Paraguayan economy.

He pointed out that many small businesses do not have access to financing elsewhere, but they do have access to it in the cooperative sector. Therefore, this agreement is welcome, especially because we can be managers of the transfer of what MIC is trying to do, which is to promote MSMEs, he added.

According to MIC data, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises make up 98% of the companies created in Paraguay, and the Vice Minister of MSMEs continues to add allies to support efforts to strengthen the sector.