«Government is not always the best entity that understands the needs of small and medium businesses,» said Merten Sievers, Value Chain Development and Entrepreneurship Coordinator at the International Labor Organization (ILO).
According to him, in many countries, men are more involved in trade, and women — in production. But the situation is different for each country, including for Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, when studying the possibility of entrepreneurship, it is worth thinking about different sources of households’ income in rural areas.
For example, when a walnut harvest season begins in Kyrgyzstan, people buy livestock for the money earned to simply survive.
«Large enterprises seem more important to governments, but as for employment, they are small. Large enterprises generate taxes and social contributions, but more people work in small and medium businesses. The government is aware of this. Therefore, we need to think how we can provide services to small and medium enterprises. We need to think about creation of effective conditions for establishing value chains at each stage,» Merten Sievers stressed.
