Bholah reviews this year’s achievements

The Minister of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives, Mr Sunil Bholah told the press on 13 December that after problems during their starting-up, MyBiz and other organisations dedicated to SMEs are now moving up a gear, aiming to better accompany this sector with more proximity. The MauBank, through MyBiz – the one-stop shop for SMEs – has given the green light to some thirty loans to local entrepreneurs for their projects, estimated to amount to Rs 108 million, of which Rs 22 million have already been granted. The majority of these projects are for the manufacturing sector.

As at date, the one-stop shop for SMEs has welcomed about 15,000 visitors and through the SME Development Scheme, some 262 applications have been received, stressed the Minister, of which 147 have been approved and 70 are still under review. The approved projects required investments of the order of Rs 554 million, of which Rs 428 million in the form of loans.

The Minister also underlined that four business development and facilitation centres are at the public’s disposal in Mahebourg, Coromandel, Bel Air and Goodlands, aiming at helping companies facing difficulties. The grievances of entrepreneurs are recorded and studied. Subsequently, independent consultants are approached to visit these entrepreneurs to analyse their problems and make recommendations, he stressed. 

Up to now, around 1,100 visits have already been carried out and 916 of them concern start-ups. Additionally, 164 visits have been carried out by officers of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) in other companies. This initiative illustrates the proximity policy of the SMEDA and the Ministry of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives.

Concerning cooperatives, Minister Bholah argues that despite some problems, this sector is experiencing a revival with the creation of 203 new cooperatives during the last two years.