Mexico: Key Issues and Policies
During the past decade, the Mexican government has put into place a strong policy framework for the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship. It has created a sequence of policy support running from the development of new entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises, SMEs and gazelles to the stimulation of linkages between SMEs and so-called 'tractor' firms. New co-ordination arrangements have also been created across government ministries and among national and state governments to increase the coherence and integration of their programmes. This publication takes stock of this progress and assesses the opportunities for further strengthening of the Mexican economy through SMEs and entrepreneurship. It shows that the framework conditions are generally good in Mexico, and have improved in recent years thanks to reforms such as regulatory simplification, the expansion of the national loan guarantee programme, and the inclusion of the micro-enterprise sector as a target of the public support system. At the same time, more can be done to shift entrepreneurs into the formal business sector and to develop more medium-sized companies able to innovate and trade internationally. There is also scope to improve the process of delivering the highest quality and most relevant policy support to beneficiary enterprises by simplifying the rules and operations of the SME Fund, developing the professional capacities of the staff and consultants who provide business development services and using available company-level data for the purposes of policy evaluation.
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Executive summary
Twelve years ago, the Mexican government started a concerted policy effort to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs – firms with up to 250 employees) and stimulate new firm creation in order to accelerate economic growth, create jobs and reduce poverty. During 2001-06 this involved the creation of an Under Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Ministry of Economy to promote and co-ordinate policies, the establishment of a central budget in the SME Fund, and the creation of SME programmes focused on access to finance and innovation.
Also available in: Spanish
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Click to download PDF - 256.16KBPDF
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Click to Read online and shareREAD