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Improving the competitiveness of Paraguay’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises
Brewhouse launch party in Asunción kickstarts project to bolster business climate for job creators.
January 15, 2020
Ninety-seven per cent of the companies registered in Paraguay are micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs or MiPYME in Spanish). It is estimated that these 350,000 firms represent only half of all MSMEs in the country.
For this reason, in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce and Trade (MIC), the European Union is implementing MiPYME COMPITE, a €12 million programme supporting greater formalisation of the sector.
Palo Santo Brewing Company - a success story of a Paraguayan micro, small or medium-sized enterprise - hosted the launch event in November last year where their local craft brew, “Paraguayan Air”, flowed freely.
The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Liz Cramer, the Deputy Minister of MSMEs, Isaac Godoy, and the EU Ambassador to Paraguay, Paolo Berizzi, attended the event along with other government officials and representatives from the four implementing partners – the World Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Federation of Production Cooperatives (Fecoprod) and the Paraguayan Industrial Union (UIP).
Improving competitiveness
The main objective of MiPYME COMPITE is to improve the competitiveness of micro, small or medium-sized enterprises and the business environment in Paraguay, facilitating the registration of businesses, which employ 67% of the economically active population.
NIRAS is coordinating the programme and implementing a technical assistance (TA) component to strengthen the institutional, regulatory and service framework. Working closely with MIC, the MiPYME COMPITE team aims to help Paraguay address the main structural obstacles for the development of MSMEs, improving inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
Running for a total of four years (October 2019 to September 2023), the first stage of the programme will consist of analysing and prioritising the value chains. The results should contribute to reducing poverty in Paraguay and to SDGs 8, 9 and 12, strengthening companies so that they can export to Europe in the framework of the EU-Mercosur Free Trade Agreement.
MiPYME COMPITE represents a commitment and joint effort to contribute to the growth of the private sector through the generation of jobs and access to better services for the sector that allow to develop more business and higher quality products.
Watch the official video for MiPYME COMPITE on the EU Delegation to Paraguay's Facebook page.
