G-15 chamber of commerce declares 2000 year of SMEs

G-15 chamber of commerce declares 2000 year of SMEs

JAKARTA (JP): The Federation of Chambers of Commerce, Industry
and Services (FCCI) from the Group of 15 developing countries has
declared 2000 as the year of small and medium-scale enterprises
(SMEs).

The federation, which held their 3rd annual meeting in
Cirebon, West Java, on Sunday and Monday, noted in a declaration
that SMEs had and would remain goods suppliers and service
providers for large businesses and even multinational
corporations.

In the declaration, it also expressed its commitment "to
promote SMEs development and linkages, both domestic and on a
cross-border basis".

It noted that thus far, the SMEs sector in most G-15 member
countries had not been accorded incentives, resources and
promotion commensurate to its significance as an engine of
growth.

Nevertheless, it suggested that support for such SMEs
development be "financially cost-effective and hence sustainable
on efficiency grounds".

The federation also issued another declaration, called the
Cirebon Declaration, that stated, among other things, their
commitment to increase cooperation among SMEs within the G-15
countries.

"Such cooperation in the framework of the G-15 FCCI would help
minimize the dependence of member countries on other countries,"
the declaration said.

The federation also said it was committed to creating
necessary human and institutional capacities, comprising
financial organizations, to increase trade and economic relations
among member countries.

It then called on the heads of states and governments of the
G-15 to bring together with them policymakers and major players
in important fields, such as banking and finance and shipping and
insurance, to their summit in Cairo in June this year.

It also called on the G-15 heads of states and governments to
look for ways to improve trade and investment cooperation among
member countries.

The G-15 FCCI, established in Cairo in 1998, is a forum for
cooperation among private sectors from 17 member countries of the
G-15, consisting of Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Egypt,
India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria,
Peru, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. (rid)