Members of the CICA Business Council Board discussed CICA approaches to support small and medium business in a pandemic.
The members of the Board under the CICA Business Council, who met on March 31, 2021, agreed that concerted efforts on the CICA platform could provide a strong positive synergistic impetus to small and medium-sized enterprises amid the pandemic.
The Board meeting was chaired by Mr. Nariman Abilshaikov, First Deputy Chairman of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan “Atameken”, who focused the attention of the Board on the need to identify and remove the barriers that SMEs face in their efforts to create joint businesses (full text of speech).
Deputy Chairmen of the Board from the Russian Federation, the Kingdom of Thailand, and the Republic of Turkey also presented their vision on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
In particular, Mr. Kirill Sergashov, Deputy Director of the Department of Investment Policy and Entrepreneurship Development of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, informed about the creation of a Digital Platform focused on the needs of its target users – small and medium-sized enterprises. He suggested placing there a common calendar of exhibitions, fairs, conferences of SMEs from all CICA Member States until 2023, which would facilitate the establishment of new business ties in the CICA space (full text of speech).
Mr. Yuttana Silpsarnvitch, Member of the Board of the Federation of Thai Industries, highlighted medical tourism, food processing and agricultural business as the most promising sectors for revitalizing cooperation in the pandemic. (presentation)
Mr. Salih Tuna Sahin, Vice President of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization of the Republic of Turkey, informed about efforts to avoid disruptions in the supply chain from manufacturer to consumer and the need to maintain business culture in the pandemic through relevant training programs (full text of speech).
Executive Director of the CICA Secretariat Ambassador Kairat Sarybay addressed the participants of the Board meeting with welcoming remarks and briefed on the implementation of Confidence Building Measures in the Economic Dimension, which covers the Business Council activities.He noted that the Economic Dimension, as the most important part of the CICA Catalog of Confidence Building Measures, remains in the focus of increased attention in the context of supporting small and medium businesses in the pandemic environment. The Ambassador also noted the need to bring together the efforts of all CICA member states to effectively respond to the pandemic challenges (full text of the speech).
The Business Council is an advisory body of CICA, bringing together representatives of business organizations and government bodies responsible for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and stimulating business activity of entrepreneurs.
Upon the Chair’s proposal, the Board made a decision to focus the agenda of the upcoming Business Council on the issues of greatest relevance reflected in the remarks of the members of the Board, including the search for tools to support business activity in a pandemic.
