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By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 24 June 2014:
A one-day workshop was held today at the Radisson Hotel organized by Libya Enterprise , . . .[restrict]the SME department of the Ministry of Economy, entitled “Access to Finance for SMEs – Policies, Mechanisms, Risks – Growing the Libyan Economy”.
The event was sponsored by Gumhouriya Nank, the UK’s Upper Quartile and the National Commercial Bank and was attended by about a hundred participants, including ministers, a former Deputy Prime Minister, a former Minister, bank managers, including from the Central Bank of Libya, as well as business leaders and NGOs.
There were five main papers presented at the workshop with a long debating session during which the policies, mechanisms and risks of SME finance were discussed – including a thorough review of past policies, practices, lessons and mistakes.
Ahmed Lamin, the official government spokesperson said that SMEs and their ability to gain access to finance was important for Libya and that the implementation of this policy by banks in unison with the various other sectors are pivotal in helping create a knowledge based economy based on output and productivity. It is also pivotal in establishing the role of Libyan youth in the private sector economy through SME projects – and away from state-salaried jobs.
Abdalnasr Abouzkeh, General Manager of Libya Enterprise (LE) said that the issue of developing and promoting SMEs “is no longer a matter of contention. It is a necessity.” The facts on the ground in Libya speak for themselves he added. “The number of Libyan state-sector employees, the percentage of the state budget that is allocated to state-sector salaries and subsidies, which exceeds 60 percent”, is a case in point.
On the other hand, Abouzkeh noted that if a small portion of this annual budget spent on salaries and subsidies were to be spent on loans or guarantees of loans to SMEs, it would have a strategic effect on job creation, private sector enterprise, taking youth away from a dependency culture and away from arms.
This was especially so since Libyan banks have the liquidity and the willingness to provide finance. All that is needed is for the state to provide the legislation to guarantee the rights of all parties, he added. [/restrict]
