Concluding Remark

by

Mr. Achmad Rofi’ie


(1) Increasing Prospects for Rapid and Sustainable (2) Socio-Economic Development through (3) Business Incubators and Entrepreneurship

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am not trying to thoroughly conclude all substances already discussed in the previous sessions since there are many important issues raised, sometimes complicated, which cannot be synthesized only within a short time. However we could highlight some major issues that have been our concerns in dealing with SMEs development.

During the two and half day meeting session, we have come to a common denominator in identifying our problems, challenges as well as potentials in the field of SMEs.

Allow me to highlight on some major issues raised and discussed during our meeting. I should frame them by citing three keywords used in the theme of our discussion, namely: (1) increasing prospects; (2) socio-economic development; and (3)  business incubators and entrepreneurship.

 

Keyword I:

Increasing Prospects

1.     Resources:

a.      Internal (Local, National)

b.      External

2.     Resources comprising of Finance, Human, and Technology (availability and alternatives) to produce goods and/or to provide services

3.     Market access:

a.      Domestic

b.      Export

Whether it needs:

- foreign investment (priority is for the indigenous people)

- trading house

- e-commerce

- market information system reiterated by Group 2, and deliberated by Group 3, among others are: creating conducive environment, good access to resources, and providing networks

4.     Institutional support: Government, Private sector, Donor Models/cases, (among others):

a.      Nigeria: Technology Business Incubation (TBI)

b.      Thailand: National SMEs Promotion Committee (NSPC)

c.      Bangladesh: Job Opportunity & Business Support (JOBS), MELA, SEED, MIDAS

d.      Peru: Prompyme

e.      Panama: Ampyme

f.       Sri Lanka: Nawabina Business Incubator

g.      Pakistan: Small & Medium Development Authority (SMEDA)

Keyword II:

Socio-Economic Development

1.     Sustainability: (Group 1 needs to ensure the continuity of sound policy)

a.      Set priorities

b.      Appropriate mechanism

c.      Identify the stakeholders and their interests to ensure continuous support

2.     Cultural factor, social attitudes (mindset change) which Group 1 put entrepreneurship in the process of capacity building. For further elaboration of the mindset change see paper of Abdul Rahman of Brunei Darussalam

3.     Management of incubators should be considered as a crucial matter to be professionally handled

4.     HIV/AIDS-related issue (indicated as a special African case) and social issues. In this line, Group 1 included Intellectual Property Rights related productions

5.     Complementary efforts provided by relevant agencies

6.     Modern manufacturing systems

7.     Issues in formulating SMEs Development Plan, as Group 3 suggested, should include:

a.      Philosophy of SMEs to encourage profit

b.      Standard definition of SMEs, with a proper criteria of incubatees

c.      Assessment of contribution to socio-economy

d.      Identification of issues and challenges

e.      A clear vision, strategic goals and target for SME development

As to the translation of philosophy into technical term it should be toward narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor that will lead to a political stability and fair treatment as well as an assistance for the marginal sector

Keyword III:

Business Incubators and Entrepreneurship

1.     Political environment, especially the roles of Government and the private sector. In this regard Group 3 explicitly referred to the importance of complementing with Government actions

2.     Relevant infrastructures

3.     Legal and regulatory frameworks for the protection of SMEs

4.     Identification of models/types of incubators which might refer to:

a.      Targeted population

b.      International institution

c.      Industrial sub-contracting business

d.      Single business

e.      University-linked

f.       Hub

g.      Virtual

h.      Regional/rural

Group 2 added other types of incubation, i.e.: franchising, joint ventures, and licensing

5.     Approach:

a.      Network building: horizontally or vertically to working together to increase trade and investment. It is comprehensively discussed that there must be a good network among supporting institutions, and linkages between SMEs and Big enterprises, as well as the university and advanced technology

b.      Technology transfer using the criteria suggested by the Standards & Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM):

-      Entrepreneurial development

-      Entreprise Creation

-      Market development, Group 1 raised the issue of competitiveness, while Group 2 referred to the use of technology, trade fairs, and export marketing

c.      New product development

d.      Group 3 proposed frequent exchange of experiences

e.      Group 2 focused on capacity building

f.       Group 1 raised the Donor’s roles

g.      Referring to the EU’s entrepreneurship development approach is one way to substantially develop entrepreneurial society. Group 1 recommended it as the effort to increase the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Further Recommendations of the three Groups on Macro Issues, Micro Issues and Critical Challenges could be found in their respective reports.

On the basis of the issues comprehensively discussed among twenty three countries (Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Myanmar, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, and Zimbabwe) we are fully convinced that the meeting has met its objectives of sharing views and experiences among participants. The sessions have been also updated with emerging concepts and concrete cases (best practices) in different countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

We highly appreciate your very significant contributions to the efforts of developing SMEs, particularly the inputs for NAM CSSTC’s future works in providing necessary assistance for developing countries.

This is all for the moment. My concluding remark will be further elaborated in the report of our meeting.

Now it is my pleasure to invite Yang Mulia Bapak Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Chuchu to officially close the meeting.

Thank you.