Laos needs more young entrepreneurs to assist in stabilising the growth of small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country and help them meet international standards, according to a top business official.
Director General of the SME Promotion and Development Office, Mr Somdy Inmixay said, “If we want our SME sector to stabilise and grow, we need to create more young entrepreneurs who have a business mindset and knowledge”.
Mr Somdy said developing the SME sector required businesses with strong operational systems and entrepreneurs with good business skills and knowledge. “We have many creative and knowledgeable young people.”
He said there are an increasing number of educational institutions offering business related courses in Laos. “However, these institutions can only produce people to work in businesses. We need people who run businesses, we need entrepreneurs.
“Entrepreneurs are people who take risks and make decisions; people who have talent and a business mind.
“We have to learn more from our young people, tap into their potential and encourage them. If young people want to launch a business, there should be a place for them to learn and get started.”
Mr Somdy said business know-how is already taught at the secondary school level as well as in vocational schools. Institutes like the Lao-Japan Business Centre and the Lao-India Business Development Centre are vital in providing assistance and expertise to young entrepreneurs, he added.
“This year, we organised a competition for the best business plan for young business people and we will continue with that contest in the future. This is just one way we can encourage young entrepreneurs.”
Mr Somdy said many changes are required to effectively encourage young entrepreneurs and strengthen the SME sector.
“Regulations relating to business registration and operation should be made simpler. Access to funding is another important area that needs to be addressed and improved.
“We are working on establishing a ‘start-up SME fund' which we will operate in cooperation with banks.”
Mr Somdy said seven priority areas have been identified for action for the 2011-15 period to stimulate growth of the SME sector in Laos.
The seven areas are improving the regulatory and administrative environment; improving access to finance; simplifying the formation of new enterprises; enhancing provision of support and business development services; promoting productivity improvement to upgrade the quality and standard of products and services of SMEs; enhancing access to markets; and broadening markets for SMEs.
Mr Somdy spoke to the Vientiane Times on the sidelines of the Development Partners Consultation Meeting on SME Development Strategy 2006-10 and SME Development Plan 2011-15. The meeting took place last Friday in Vientiane and was supported by GTZ.
The meeting aimed to provide a forum to review and discuss the strategy and the future direction of SME development from 2011-15.
According to a handout from the meeting, an estimated US$465 million is needed to ensure 15 percent annual growth in outputs by SMEs, 13 percent annual growth in the number of registered SMEs, 10 percent annual growth in employment by the SME sector, and for SMEs to account for about 85 percent of total employment in the country.
Source: VTETIMES
By Keoxomphou Sakdavong
(Latest Update July 27, 2010)
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Topic: Wanted: young people with business mindset (Read 204 times)
