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)