Intervention by the Permanent Representative of the Argentine Republic, Amb. Martín García Moritán

May 11

It is an honour for me to be here in this event to commemorate the adoption of the resolution establishing June 27th as Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day.

I would like to begin by thanking the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), especially its Executive Director, Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy, and the United Nations Office for Partnership for all the support in the organization of this event.

The idea of establishing the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day began in the 61st ICSB Annual World Conference, held here at United Nations last year. In that occasion, ICSB made a Declaration about the urgent need to have a day to recognize the important role of micro, small, and medium enterprises in the development of economies as a whole. That is when the authorities from Argentina decided to step forward and promote this important initiative in the General Assembly, which concluded in the adoption of the resolution 71/279, cosponsored by 54 countries.

Since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development all the countries have been working in its implementation and in finding ways to ensure that every actor could contribute in the best possible way. Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are one of these actors.

They have the potential to make a long-lasting positive impact on the world’s development needs, since, by number, they dominate the world business stage. These enterprises can in fact become the engines that sustain growth for long-term development in developing countries. When growth becomes stronger, Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises gradually assume a key role in industrial development. They can satisfy the increasing local demand for services, which allows increasing specialisation, and furthermore support larger enterprises with services and inputs.

We hope that the establishment of June 27 as the Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day will help to raise public awareness of the important role they have in many areas of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the many challenges these enterprises face.

Thank you.