今天是联合国中小微企业日，来听听联合国助理秘书长怎么谈中小微企业

联合国助理秘书长ElliotHarris

在“中小微企业在实现可持续发展目标中的作用”开幕式中的发言

非常欢迎你们来到联合国总部，讨论中小微型企业在实现可持续发展目标方面的作用这一重要议题。当今中小微企业占世界各地发达国家和发展中国家私营部门实体总数的主要部分。近年来，全球公认中小微企业是推动实现可持续发展目标的关键力量。从减贫、零饥饿、促进经济增长、创造体面就业到减少不平等、促进两性平等以及构建可持续城市和社区，中小微企业都发挥着重要作用。

中小微企业是创造就业机会的强大引擎。未来15年将需要6亿个工作岗位来吸收不断增长的全球劳动力，而劳动力增长主要分布在亚洲和撒哈拉以南非洲。创造就业岗位大部分将通过中小微企业来实现。在新兴市场，5个新职位中有4个是由中小微企业创造的，约占正规部门总就业人数的90%。通过中小微企业创造就业机会可促进经济增长，并直接惠及穷人和弱势群体，特别是妇女和青年。

中小微企业减少贫穷，增加收入，并对家庭在教育和医疗方面的投资产生积极影响，所有这些都具有实现多种可持续发展目标的巨大潜力。

联合国大会认识到中小微企业的重要性，于2017年通过了一项决议，将6月27日定为“中小微企业日”。我要借此机会感谢阿根廷在这一历史性倡议中的领导作用。同样，在《亚的斯亚贝巴发展筹资行动纲领》中，联合国适时地强调了中小微企业在实现可持续发展目标方面的重要性，倡导各国政府、金融机构和开发银行共同支持中小微企业发展。

女士们先生们，我们今天的集会至关重要。作为实现2030年议程和可持续发展目标的催化剂，它代表了一种全球伙伴关系，共同探索促进中小型企业发展和增长的机会和解决办法。

然而，尽管中小微企业对可持续发展目标具有重要意义，但它们仍面临多重挑战，包括融资渠道有限，在商业发展、营销和战略管理技能方面能力和知识匮乏。此外，由于政治、体制和监管机制薄弱，许多国家未能充分挖掘中小微企业的潜力。

有限的资金来源是另一项主要挑战。由于没有正式注册并且抵押和信贷记录有限，中小微企业常常被商业银行视为高风险的贷款者。因此，目前的信贷缺口估计为：正规中小微企业1.2万亿美元，非正规中小微企业6万亿美元。流动性不足导致中小企业无法支付员工工资和日常开支，从而无法在中长期内实现规模经济。除正规化的问题外，融资问题也严重阻碍中小微型企业的增长，使得中小微企业难以为加速实现可持续发展目标做出贡献。

尽管存在如此多的挑战，中小微企业家仍然是这个群体变革中不可或缺的推动者。在城市和农村，中小微企业往往率先将技术创新转化为需求驱动的发展方案。我也非常高兴地注意到，在面对日益增加的挑战中，女性企业家在培养贫穷妇女和青年的自信心和自力更生方面表现出色。

很荣幸今天在座的多位嘉宾同时也出席了在过去两天举行的科学、科技及创新论坛(STI Forum)。中小微企业与科学、技术和创新的产生和传播之间有着强大的协同作用。科学和技术创新很大一部分来自发展中国家的中小微企业家。中小微企业家凭借对基层需求的深入了解，拥有着将科技创新转化为可复制的发展方案的强大力量。中小微企业不仅成为创新的孵化器，并且也成为推广创新的促进者。

女士们先生们，借此机会，我要再次倡导国际社会为中小微企业的包容性和可持续增长提供紧急和一致的支持。具体而言，应当建立连贯和透明的监管框架，建立试点并扩大小额信贷和贷款担保方案，普及信息和通信技术和基本基础设施，使中小微企业能够缩小甚至跨越融资方面的差距。

我非常高兴地注意到，此次参加专题讨论会的有来自成员国、研究界、国际组织和私营部门的专家和经验丰富的中小型企业发展从业者。我认为，这能够促进知识交流，并增进全球对中小微企业助力实现可持续发展目标的了解。我期望本次研讨会的深入探讨能找到消除瓶颈的良好做法和建议，并最大限度地发挥中小微企业加速实现可持续发展目标的潜力。更重要的是，我认为本次专题讨论会上的战略讨论将激励全球政策讨论和国家发展计划引入有效机制，以便充分利用中小型企业增长的势头，促进实现可持续发展目标。

在此，我要衷心感谢中华人民共和国慷慨资助了这次研讨会。据我所知，这次专题讨论会还将启动“加强国家能力以充分发挥中小微企业实现发展中国家可持续发展目标的潜力”项目的讲习班，该项目将在巴西、柬埔寨、斐济、肯尼亚、老挝、斯里兰卡、坦桑尼亚、秘鲁和菲律宾等9个发展中国家启动一系列能力建设和技术合作活动，以促进中小型企业的增长。我相信这次研讨会将促进对这些国家有关中小微企业助力可持续发展目标的倡议、挑战和机会进行评估，并进一步促进参与式协商和需求筹划，从而以需求驱动的方式指导项目的实施。

最后，我谨祝中“小微企业在实现可持续发展目标方面的作用”专题讨论会取得圆满成功，并祝各位在纽约度过愉快的时光。

Ambassador MartinGarcia Moritan,

Excellencies,

Distinguishedparticipants,

Ladies andgentlemen

I am very pleased to welcome you to the United Nations Headquarters to discussthe important topic of the role of the Micro-, Small and Medium- Enterprises(MSMEs) in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

MSMEscomprise a major share of total private sector entities around the world, inboth developed and developing countries.

Inrecent years, MSMEs have been recognized globally as a crucial forcecontributing to the achievement of the SDGs - from poverty alleviation, zerohunger, economic growth, decent job creation, to reduced inequalities, togender equality, and to sustainable cities and communities.

MSMEsare strong engines of job creation. Some 600 million jobs will be needed in the next 15 years to absorbthe growing global workforce, mainly in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Much ofthis need will be met through the MSMEs.

Inemerging markets, 4 out of 5 new positions have been created by MSMEs, which isabout 90% of total employment in the formal sector.

Jobcreation through MSMEs leads to economic growth and directly benefits the poorand vulnerable, particularly women and youth.

Itreduces poverty, increases income and positively impacts on householdinvestments in education and health, all of which bear tremendous potentialsfor fulfilment of multiple SDGs.

Recognizing theimportance of the MSMEs, the United Nations General Assembly adopted aresolution in 2017, ‘designating 27th June as the “Micro-Small andMedium-Sized Enterprise Day”.

I want to takethis opportunity to recognize the leadership of Argentine in this historicinitiative.

Likewise, in the Addis Ababa ActionAgenda on Financing for Development, the United Nations duly underscored theimportance of MSMEs in achieving the SDGs, advocating for concerted supportfrom national governments, financial institutions and development banks tosupport MSME growth.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Ourgathering today is vital. It represents a global partnership of jointlyexploring opportunities and solutions for MSME development and growth, as thecatalyst for fulfilling the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs.

Yet, notwithstanding the importance of MSMEs for SDGs, theyface multiple challenges,including limited access to finance and lack of capacity and knowledge,particularly with regards to business development, marketing and strategicmanagement skills.

In addition, manycountries have not been able to fully tap the potential of MSMEs due to weakpolitical, institutional and regulatory mechanisms

Limited access to sufficient financial resources is anothermajor challenge. Without formal registration and with limited collateral and creditrecords, MSMEs are often perceived as high-risk loan recipients by commercialbanks.

As a result, the current credit gap is estimated to be US$1.2 trillion for formal MSMEs and US$ 6 trillion for informal MSMEs.

Lack of liquidity has left MSMEs unable to pay theiremployees and cover overheads to achieve economy of scale in the medium andlong term.

Combined with the challenge of formalization, the issue ofaccess to finance significantly hampers MSME growth and their potential forcontributing towards the expedited achievement of the SDGs.

Despite these and other challenges, MSME entrepreneurs arean indispensable agent for change in their communities.

MSMEs often spearhead the transformation of technicalinnovations into demand-driven development solutions in both urban and ruralsettings.

I am also very pleased to note that women MSME entrepreneurshave exhibited outstanding performance in growing their business in the face ofmounting challenges and nurturing confidence and self-reliance among poor womenand youth.

I am pleased that many participants here today have alsoattended the Science, Technology and Innovation Forum (STI Forum) held over thepast two days.

There are strong synergies betweenMSMEs and the generation and dissemination of science, technology and innovations.

A substantial partof scientific and technical innovations come from MSME entrepreneurs indeveloping countries.

MSMEentrepreneurs, with their in-depth knowledge on demands of local communities,possess strong power to transform scientific, technical innovations intoreplicable development solutions.

MSMEs have become not onlyincubators, but also facilitators for replication, of innovations.

Atour gathering today, I would like to advocate once again for urgent andconcerted supports by the international community for inclusive and sustainablegrowth of MSMEs.

Specifically, this would include the establishment ofcoherent and transparent regulatory frameworks, pilot and scaling up ofmicro-credit and loan guarantee solutions, as well as provision of universalaccess to ICT and basic infrastructure that allow MSMEs to close and evenleapfrog informational and financial gaps.

I am very pleased to note participants to the symposiuminclude experts and experienced practitioners on MSME growth for SDGs, frommember states, research communities, international organizations and theprivate sector.

I believe this is crucial to foster knowledge exchanges andthe global learning on MSME growth for SDGs. I expect that the in-depthdiscussion at this symposium would identify good practices and recommendationsto eliminate bottlenecks and maximize the potential of MSMEs for acceleratedachievement of the SDGs.

More importantly, I believe the strategic discussions atthis symposium would incentivize efficient mechanisms to be mainstreamed intoglobal policy discussions and national development plans for fully harnessingthe momentum of MSME growth for SDGs.

On this occasion, I would like to extend my sincere thanksto the People’s Republic of China, who have generously funded this symposium.

I understand the symposium also serves as the kick-offworkshop of the project “Enhancing National Capacities for Unleashing FullPotentials of MSMEs in Achieving SDGs in Development Countries” which willlaunch series of capacity building and technical cooperation activities on MSMEgrowth in nine developing countries, which are Brazil, Cambodia, Fiji, Kenya,Laos, Sri-Lanka, Tanzania, Peru and the Philippines.

I believe this symposium would support stocktaking ongoinginitiatives, challenges and opportunities on MSME growth for SDGs in thesecountries, and further facilitate participatory consultation and demand mappingthat steer project implementation in a demand-driven approach.

Finally,I would like to wish the Symposium on the Role of MSMEs in Achieving SDGs muchsuccess, and wish you all a pleasant stay in New York.