| OUR WORK

Our labor in numbers

Large business: an essential partner for the MSMEs

Twenty-four distributor development projects that involve 1,828 MSMEs and 23 supplier development projects for 1,189 MSMEs.  These efforts have led to higher sales, growing revenues, and more employment for participating businesses.
FUNDES has worked together with 50 multinational corporations to strengthen MSMEs in Latin America.

A better business environment for MSMEs

More than 70 studies have been done to spread the word about MSMEs and identify the best public policies to encourage their development. FUNDES has diagnosed MSME business environment restrictions in eight countries throughout the region.

Eighty projects have been carried out in seven countries to improve the MSME business enabling environment through the Business Procedures Simplification Program (SIMTRA). The program reduced the completion time for procedures by 88% on average and the number of requirements to open and operate a business by 52%. The number of businesses legalized has increased up to 30% and even the collection of municipality taxes has improved up to 25%.

In order to compete… it’s better together than isolated

Eighty inter-company associative projects with more than 800 MSMEs. More than 6,120 MSMEs have benefited from these projects, with businesses ranging from retailers, agricultural production, services, tourism, pharmaceuticals, to forestry, among others. 

MSMEs in Latin America

Our economies need more modern MSMEs, with a strong foothold in their value chains and capable of generating employment and social well-being. That’s why FUNDES considers this business segment’s strengthening strategic to conserving and generating employment and wealth, thereby helping to reduce poverty.

A few characteristics of the MSME in Latin America…

• The great majority of MSMEs have never received business training or consulting even when business development services have proven to be fundamental in order to elevate their competitiveness.
• 90% of MSMEs are family businesses.
• MSMEs play an important role in preserving the local economies and jobs.
• These businesses depend largely on internal markets (on average, only 5% of them export).
• One of their major obstacles lies in the asymmetry of their relationship with large businesses, and their lack of competitiveness regarding volume, quality and price, lack of market information, and high interest rates.

* SOURCE: FUNDES Research.

The FUNDES Approach – Areas of Intervention
Our objective is to strengthen MSMEs, the economic motor of Latin America.