Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have not fared well in terms of profitability, employment and investment opportunities. Political uncertainty and contraction of demand are elements of crisis. With this in mind, Agobi President Rosemary Quintero calls for action to support the sector, refer to measures for a popular economy, create new projects, improve security conditions and create more confidence.
What worries you most about the balance of the first quarter?
Almost 50% of traders say that all their indicators have deteriorated. But there are two concerns in particular. One is profit, which is very low for 60% of those surveyed, and the other is investment, because if there is no profit, it is not invested for 54.3%.
(Work stress levels of employees are in historical records).
This is worrisome because when you stop investing it equates to stagnation, no new expansion plans, no new markets served and in some way, stop hiring. We add to this the uncertainty due to the reforms and the uncertainty felt from the policy being drawn up by the government. To this we must add the wave of insecurity that is evident in the cities every day. Earlier people lived mostly in rural areas.
What is the reason for the decline in the indicators of SMEs?
The most weighted in our study is the contraction of demand, if it happens there is no sale, if there is no sale there is no income, it is a chain. Lack of working capital is also being talked about as a result of the attrition we have had in pandemics and in some cases bad decisions.
When I say depreciation, I don’t mean in debt, if you are in debt, higher interest rates affect you. Among the recommendations we make to the business sector, they help MSMEs with development, which will give us a lot of oxygen. There is an Act of Fair Terms, and when we tracked it quarterly, we found that only 57.7% of MSMEs received resources on an average of 45 days.
(Difficulties of Pedro’s government a year after election victory).
What about employment?
43.9% of entrepreneurs lost an average of 3 jobs and created only one job on average. It means that two jobs never came back.
This is worrisome because we represent a large percentage of working people in Colombia. In the category of contracts, we see the growth of the indefinite term contract (35.1%), while the fixed term contract increased from 23.5% to 32.3%. This sends a very important message to the Ministry of Labor so that the business sector knows how to use the various forms of contracting in a balanced manner.
(Are Colombians facing economic problems?).
What worries you about labor reform?
Restrictions on outsourcing are one of the issues that keep us most apprehensive as we are part of a chain used by large companies and we provide outsourced services to them. Another issue is collective rights. We cannot coordinate the negotiations conducted in the large companies with which we interact, nor can we coordinate the minimum wage established for workers.
It’s a ‘turn off’ for us.
But do you see the convergence of that principle for the popular economy?
We met TBS and Ministry of Industries but we could not mention anything. I believe we can do more and be more open to implementing them. A very important issue here is the need for a stable team. Running with political pressures and conflicts can make projects very difficult to execute.
(Employment expectations to fall in third quarter).
In the context of the sector, what is most urgent?
I think there are many problems. First, confidence, if the country does not reach a state of peace and stability, there will be no confidence to continue to invest, to continue to grow and to do better.
Secondly, the issue of the conflict, we know the efforts for total peace, I am part of the talks with the ELN, but the people in the territories should feel calm and safe and the general force should be strengthened.
And there is a third point: we respect the right of people from Agobi to express themselves, but calling for a massive mobilization sows a nuance of concern. There are roadblocks and no-go situations in these activities, and I believe the country should be reassured. The fourth aspect is related to roads with high raw material traffic, such as Buenaventura, which must be protected. We have an all-capable army for that.
Constance Gomez Guaska
Portfolio Journalist
