Tourism in Central America and the Dominican Republic in the face of digital technologies: Challenges and opportunities for MSMEs

Tourism micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) recognize the importance of digital tools to attract tourists, showcase the company and sell products and services. However, they make basic use of these tools to communicate and promote the company, missing opportunities to improve their competitiveness, productivity and sustainability. This study analyses the state of the digital transformation of tourism MSMEs in the member States of the Central American Integration System (SICA), both their internal capacities and external conditions that affect their ability to innovate. The study …

An analysis of the art and craft sector and its potential for sustainable tourism development in the Caribbean

Art and craft is considered to be an integral part of the tourism business, since it plays an important role as souvenirs and mementos, thereby spatially and temporarily expanding the visitor experience. It is also increasingly looked upon as an opportunity to diversify the tourism sector offerings, as well as the broader economic base. As part of the overall global creative economy, the art and craft sector has seen consistent trade growth over the past two decades, and has shown the capacity to forge even stronger linkages with the tourism sector. This paper examines the nature of this relat…

E-commerce and export promotion policies for small- and medium-sized enterprises: East Asian and Latin American experiences

Abstract As in other parts of the world, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America are important generators of employment while contributing to establishing certain social as well as regional 'equilibria' in the development process within the country. However, SMEs in Latin America are much less 'export-oriented'than their East Asian counterparts. SMEs in Latin America tend to produce import substitutes and non tradables while manufactured exports are still produced by large firms in relativelycapital-intensive ways. In contrast, many East Asian SMEs are…

Innovation and SME internationalization in Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean: Policy experiences and areas for cooperation

Economic relations between the Republic of Korea and Latin American and the Caribbean have expanded rapidly since 2000. Bilateral trade in goods increased more than fivefold, while the region has also become an important destination for Korean foreign direct investment. The region’s interest in Korea also stems from this country’s successful economic and social development experience, as it developed from being one of the poorest countries in the world to a high-income economy within less than six decades. To better understand the divergent trends in Korea and the region, this document reviews…

Information and communication technology (ICT) for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America: Brazil

The European Investment Bank and SMEs: key lessons for Latin America and the Caribbean

This paper discusses the engagement of the European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group) with the financing and support of SMEs, both within the European Union (EU) as well as EU Candidate Countries and the Balkans. Indeed, lending and providing financial support to SMEs is one of the key core objectives of the EIB Group. The main focus of the paper is to describe and analyse the practises and experiences of the EIB Group in this field, to discuss the key lessons and to make policy recommendations to be considered within the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) context. The large role played by the …

Information technology for development of small and medium-sized exporters in Latin America and East Asia

This report is the product of a research project titled Comparative Study on East Asian and Latin American Information Technology (IT) Industries , carried out in 2004 and 2005 by the International Trade and Integration Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago, Chile, in collaboration with the Institute of Developing Economies Japan External Trade Organization (IDE/JETRO) in Chiba, Japan. The project it was financed by the Thematic Trust Fund - Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Development, United Nations D…

Digital infrastructure for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Republic of Korea

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for a significant share of the exports of the Republic of Korea, in large part thanks to the sophisticated digital support infrastructure available to these firms. This document analyses how the government implemented this infrastructure over the last decades in close coordination with the private sector. It also presents the prominent institutions and their digital SME export support instruments. Lastly, it identifies some future challenges and recommendations for Latin America and the Caribbean.…

The importance of local production and small-scale enterprises for Latin American development

The generation dynamic competitive advantages in Latin America and the Caribbean cannot be assumed to result automatically from the achievement of the necessary macroeconomic stability and the incorporation of part of the system of production into some dynamic segments (or niches); of the international economy. Recent empirical information on local economic development initiatives in the developed countries indicates that macroeconomic adjustment policies must be accompanied by other specific policies at the microeconomic and mesoeconomic levels. These policies must incorporate the various loc…

Experto de la CEPAL expuso en un foro político de alto nivel sobre el rol de los legisladores en el fomento de las mipymes en la región

En San Salvador se llevó a cabo el encuentro en el que participaron legisladores de once países de América Latina y el Caribe.…

Investing for the future in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean is a large, heterogeneous region that has been open to foreign direct investment (FDI) and is home to two of the top FDI recipient economies in the world: Brazil and Mexico. The trade and investment relationship between the region and the member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) has been concentrated on infrastructure and energy, and to a lesser extent commercial and financial services, agriculture and tourism. Both regions could exploit synergies to benefit more from bilateral …

CEPAL presenta un panorama actual sobre las mipymes de América Latina y el Caribe en Foro de Economía en Cuba

La exposición se realizó en La Habana y estuvo a cargo de la División de Desarrollo Productivo y Empresarial del organismo regional de Naciones Unidas.…

The Regional Coordination Mechanism for the Implementation of the Mauritius Strategy

Foro Empresarial América Latina y el Caribe – Unión Europea: Repensando un futuro común

El evento, que contará con la participación de la Secretaria Ejecutiva de la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe de las Naciones Unidas, Alicia Bárcena, es organizado por CAINCO (en el marco del Programa AL-Invest 5.0, financiado por la Unión Europea), el proyecto EUROMIPYME (ejecutado por la CEPAL y financiado por la Unión Europea), EUROCHAMBRES y la Fundación EU-LAC.…

Opportunities and challenges for MSMEs in Caribbean cross-border e-commerce

THE GOAL OF THE COURSE Training policymakers in good practices to improve thecapacities of MSMEs to participate in cross-border e-commerce. SPECIFIC GOALS To learn about recent developments and trends indomestic and cross-border e-commerce particularly sincethe beginning of the pandemic and to examine thebarriers and challenges that MSMEs face in this type ofinternational trade. To understand the process of digital transformation anddigital capacity-building of MSMEs for the effectiveimplementation of cross-border e-commerce processes,systems and tools, along with the support thatgovernments …

Private-public alliances for export development: the Korean case

The present report explains the development path of Korea, from a country which started its development with a lack of natural resources, industrial facilities, sufficient foreign reserves and business experiences and with human resources as its only productive factor at the disposal, to its successful technological catch-up, export performance and economic development. The study clarifies this development by concentrating on the formulation and implementation mechanism of development strategies and policies with the emphasis on trade; the technological capability building process and institu…

62° Conferencia Mundial del International Council for Small Business (ICSB)

La 62ª Conferencia Mundial del ICSB, que se celebrará en Buenos Aires es una importante oportunidad de aprendizaje ya que la experiencia y la investigación sobre emprendimiento e innovación en el contexto de las PYMES serán discutidas, intercambiadas y compartidas por académicos y profesionales de todo el mundo. Durante la Conferencia, la Cepal participará con una ponencia magistral de Mario Cimoli, Director de la División de Desarrollo Productivo y Empresarial, en la sesión plenaria del día viernes 30 de junio y además coordinará dos sesiones de debate con expertos internacionales los días 28…

Policies for small and medium-sized enterprises in Chile

In 1991, the Government of Chile began to pursue a new business development strategy. The Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Support Programme (Programa de Apoyo a la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa); provides for a number of instruments to correct market failures and improve the efficiency, productivity, competitiveness and international trading position of Chilean products made by these firms. The importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); in the national economy is illustrated by their number and by the share of jobs they create. The particularly adverse experience of the economic cr…

Institutional requirements for market-led development in Latin America

Abstract This paper seeks to provide a systematized framework for the main ideas that have been developed by ECLAC concerning the effects that market-led reforms have had on labour, financial and technology markets. In order to explore these questions further, a research project has been undertaken by ECLAC with the sponsorship of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ). The project deals with the institutional requirements for properly functioning financial, technology and labour markets. Particular attention is being devoted to the institutional forces affecting market access by tr…

The tax regime for micro-enterprises in Cuba

The government of Cuba established a tax regime for micro-enterprises as soon as it legalized the sector in 1993. It was designed to function in a difficult context in which a tax-paying culture did not exist, in which widespread noncompliance was feared, and in which some micro-entrepreneurs' incomes were high. The tax regime included advance monthly lump-sum payments, a 10% maximum amount of total revenues which could be deducted as costs in calculating taxable income, and an escalating tax schedule. This tax regime has a number of weaknesses which make it inequitable, inefficient and i…