“Give the small business person a chance” – Mozambican SMEs ask Minister

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“Give the small business person a chance” – Mozambican SMEs ask Minister

1:53 CAT | 15 Jan 2018

Minister of Trade and Industry Ragendra de Sousa

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have asked the government to remove difficulties accessing opportunities arising from the country’s natural resources.

The request was made in Maputo last Friday during a meeting between the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Ragendra de Sousa, and representatives of SMEs at the Mozambique Chamber of Commerce.

At the event, businessman Donald Tulcides said that, while the country offered material conditions for work, the gap between business capabilities and available opportunities was growing.

He said that many companies were not prepared to exploit the country’s wealth, and that it is necessary for the government to create mechanisms to support the training of the entrepreneurs so that they could establish themselves in the market.

“Government must include small entrepreneurs on their trips abroad. We have seen that it is always the same businesspeople who travel abroad. You have to give the small business person a chance,” he said.

Similarly, Rui Paulino, president of the Mozambique Association of Scrap Dealers, complained about the lack of supervision in his industry sector.

According to him, foreign companies are taking advantage of junk to hide smuggled products, tarnishing the image of companies dedicated to the recycling of scrap.

“It is important that the industry monitor these industries, and that there is licensing of these operators coming from outside,” he said.

Minister de Sousa challenged the national business community to unite in opposition to illegal trade, which he said was one of domestic industry’s greatest problems. He said the fight against illegal trade must be carried on by entrepreneurs especially, although everyone was harmed by it.

“The business sector, together and separately, must combine with us against illegal trade. The state can change the director of the border or the customs, but does this really solve the problem? We sense that it does not,” the minister said.

De Sousa acknowledged that smuggling hurt not only businesspeople, but also the Mozambican government, by robbing the state coffers of tax revenue.

The minister also urged entrepreneurs to be guided by the highest professional ethics, ignoring any invitation to corruption coming from the public administration or elsewhere.

“We ask business owners always to have documents for pick-ups or despatches. Please don’t pay “refreshments” [bribes], because this helps neither you nor the state, and furthermore it demoralises society,” he said.

Source: Notícias