Mohammed Hamuth
6 August 2007
opinion
Port Louis — Promoting entrepreneurship is very high on the government's agenda. Miscellaneous initiatives culminated in the enactment of the Business Facilitation Act last year. Rather than sit and wait for a government job, more and more people are being encouraged to start their own businesses by availing themselves of the facilities offered by different state organizations such as the SEHDA, Enterprise Mauritius, National Women Council, etc. Many new businesses have sprung up, and with strong continued support from the government, confidence is very high in the SME sector.
SMEs have been identified as a vehicle of economic growth with great employment creation potential in the coming years. Government is struggling, through successive measures and policies, to boost local production, encourage innovation, enhance competitiveness and identify new products and corresponding markets.
Most SMEs depend on the local market for their survival. Unfortunately the market is shrinking day by day, as consumers become increasingly dependent on cheaper imported goods. With a liberalized market, and the gradual lowering of customs duties in line with international trade commitment, SMEs face a more irregular and declining market as they strive to keep their market share.
It is therefore difficult to understand why the government (especially the Ministry of Industry and Commerce), is doing nothing to control the holding of frequent trade fairs. These fairs are a serious threat to SMEs as a few promoters are making fast bucks by flooding the market with container loads of imported goods. In the past, such trade fairs used to take place once a year. These days, such events are hosted almost monthly, not to say sometimes simultaneously: at Citadelle, Mer Rouge, Waterfront, hypermarket parking, etc, etc.
In a small country where the market is already saturated with the rising number of trading activities, hawkers, small businesses, etc, allowing trade fairs is the last thing a responsible government should do. Existing small businesses who have invested life savings and loans incur year-round fixed costs and overheads, whilst one time traders, without the hassle of obtaining BLP and other clearances, are being provided golden opportunities to make quick money at regular fairs that are eroding the markets of SMEs and small businesses.
Tolerating the holding of such trade fairs is totally contradictory to the SME empowerment policy, and all efforts would go waste if this trend is allowed to continue. Yes, these trade fairs would have been beneficial and welcoming if they were designed to showcase locally manufactured goods and be a marketplace for local SMEs. But trade fairs destined to facilitate the dumping of containers of cheap imported stuff will seriously jeopardize the sustenance of small and medium enterprises! It is time authorities like SEHDA, Enterprise Mauritius and the Ministry of Industry decide to put an end to this practice in the interests of our SMEs, as it is futile to offer entrepreneurs all sorts of schemes, facilities, advantages, incentives, etc if we deprive them of the most important thing: a market for their products. A strong appeal to the Hon Prime Minister and the Hon Minister of Finance for prompt action
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 L'Express. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
