Government reforms woo SMEs for competition

The Chamber of Commerce on November 5 hosted the Prime Minister’s business emissaries from Yaounde and the Douala business Community especially drawn from the Small and medium sized enterprises (SMES) and that of Industries (SMI) first to acquaint them of a balance sheet of government reforms over a period for a more competitive business climate, take advantage of the unfolding business opportunities as government trade missions woo foreign investors to partner with their Cameroonian counterparts under better incentives than in the past, and to find out which other difficulties are being faced that should be addressed by government, while facilitating the domestic front.

The Head of mission and close collaborators Detailing the participants present, Moise Mvodo, Head of mission, of the Regulatory and Advisory Board, said that through dialogue, the private sector and government should create important trade guidelines and conceive common partnership strategies to promote investments and to work under a palatable business climate to promote business competitivity in this sector where more than 80% of the nations GNP is generated.

Mvodo, in a nutshell introduced the new rules and regulations of the new investment code promulgated into law by the Head of state, and its text of applications which allows the private sector reap maximum benefits. The Head of Mission and collaborators who assisted him, introduced and explained legislative laws leading to the creation of economic zones presently and some free trade zones in the near future.

The Prime Minister’s emissaries demonstrably cited trade missions headed by the Head of State to Turkey, France and the United States to confirm government’s full commitment and determination to ease the sector from the traditional challenges. They equally mentioned the on-going energy infrastructural development, government’s placement policies in agro-industry, pharmaceutical and cement industries. They then thanked the Chamber of Commerce for their continuous concern and urged other stakeholders to emulate their example.

Recommendations reached after the questions and answers session were listed as follows; To facilitate access to liquidity through banks and financial institutions to small and medium sized businesses in general where he explained that the PME Bank is in the making; to facilitate the system of decongestion and customs transactions at the ports; recommended the creation of an agency to promote economic zones in Cameroon; to promote SMES; and the issuance of an enabling text for the application of the law on free trade zones.