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SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES: IMPORTANCE AND CONSTRAINTS

HOGAR AKRAM SALIH SALIH


Many economists believe that the development of microenterprises and the promotion of their establishment, as well as medium enterprises, are among the main sources of economic and social development in countries in general, and developing countries in particular, as a basic platform for increasing production capacity on the one hand and contributing to addressing the problems of poverty and unemployment on the other hand. Therefore, many countries have paid increasing attention to these projects, and provided aid and assistance in various ways, according to the possibilities available. In view of the importance of these projects, most developing countries have concentrated their efforts on them. They have encouraged the establishment of small and medium industries, especially after they have proven their ability and efficiency to address the major problems facing different economies and to large extent large industries. The increasing attention, both formal and private, to “Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs” is due to the fact that, in addition to its large labor capacity, the investment volume is very low compared to large projects. It is also a field for developing managerial, technical, production and marketing skills in the face of individual initiatives and self-employment, easing the pressure on the public sector to create jobs. These projects have found various forms of care and support, both public and private, for their significant contribution to the industrial sector. For example, small and medium enterprises comprise about (90%) of enterprises in the world and employ (50%-60%) of the world's workforce. It was necessary to provide support in all its forms to these vital sectors in view of their importance and to eliminate the most important obstacles facing small and medium enterprises, namely, the inability of their owners to provide the necessary funding for the continuity of their activities and their inability to provide adequate traditional guarantees required by commercial banks to provide funding for them. Commercial banks usually contribute to large projects and prefer to deal and lend to them because of the low risk of these projects on the one hand, and the ease with which banks deal with them on the other, and their ability to provide the required guarantees. The preferential treatment of large industrial projects is the main motive for the introduction of loan risk guarantee programs to facilitate the financing of targeted SMEs and to enable them to obtain credit facilities by guaranteeing the risk of these loans with banks and financial institutions, Banks to grant facilities to a wider segment of investors and entrepreneurs of economic feasibility who do not have sufficient traditional guarantees, and this leads to the growth of these projects, development and continuity.