Mawi and Tenndo are recently created digital platforms that in the Costa Rican market will be dedicated to commercialize services and products of SMEs and independent professionals through the Internet.
Given the accelerated emergence of the new commercial reality and the change in people's consumption habits, online sales have gained ground, since due to the covid-19 outbreak consumers prefer to stay at home longer.
It is estimated that by 2019 there were 396,796 microenterprises operating from homes in the country, 10% more than the 361,404 reported at the end of 2018.
On average, each microenterprise has 13 years to develop its economic activity, but there are differences by sector: in the agricultural sector, the average is 20 years, in the industry sector is 14 years, in the trade sector is 12 years and in the service sector microenterprises have on average 11 years developing their economic activity, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC).
Starting in August, Correos de Costa Rica will implement a web portal called "Marketplace", which will be focused on marketing products of micro, small and medium enterprises.
The new portal will offer the functionalities of online payments, delivery logistics through the Pymexpress service, in addition to allowing companies to implement marketing campaigns, as well as the generation and use of QR codes.
The Tala loan app provides an alternative way to get short-term loans, that doesn’t involve complex procedures that are in use by banks and other lending institutions.
In these tough economic times where banks have increased interest rates that make it harder to get unsecured loans, a simpler way to get a loan is heaven-sent. The Tala loan app provides an alternative way to get short-term loans, that doesn’t involve complex procedures that are in use by banks and other lending institutions. Here, you don’t need a guarantor, security, or a good credit rating. Besides, the loan is instant, unlike other institutions where you would have to wait a minimum of 30 days. If you need a loan from Tala, you have to download the app first. This Tala loan app download guide will help you to install the app on your device.
In December 2018, Costa Rican SMEs reported a 25% increase over the previous month in online sales.
Correos de Costa Rica reported that according to the platform Pymexpress, during the past month were recorded about 40,000 shipments of products corresponding to online sales.
Nacion.com reviews that "... Meanwhile, the international cargo registry increased 19%, also in December with respect to November, detailed the report.
The Inter-American Development Bank has granted a loan that will be used to finance energy efficiency projects for small and medium-sized companies.
The funds for this loan come from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and will be executed by the Development Bank of El Salvador (BANDESAL). The objective of the financing granted is to support the efforts being made by SMEs in El Salvador to reduce electricity consumption and limit greenhouse gas emissions, reported the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Explained by better promotional efforts, the proportion of Costa Rican SMEs that export to Asian, South American and Caribbean countries continues to grow.
According to the Foreign Trade Promotion Office (Procomer), last year 86% of companies that sold goods in South America were SMEs, in the case of Asia the proportion reached 81% and for the Caribbean it was 80%.
In El Salvador every week at least two companies report that they intend to close down due to the impact of extortion, a problem that, far from being resolved, seems to be getting worse every year.
Representatives from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of El Salvador (Camarasal), said that the country's employers do not see any significant improvement in the security climate, following the six month extension last April of the extraordinary measures of the Sánchez Cerén administration to try to control crime and insecurity.
The new law on security interests promises small and medium-sized companies quick access to credit lines, as it simplifies procedures for constituting and executing guarantees.
Last week the Congress of the Republic,approved amendments to the Law on Secured Transactionsthat has existed since 2007 to facilitate access to bank loans. With the modifications, any transaction that has the effect of guaranteeing an obligation of the debtor with the creditor is typified as a security interest.
The Honduran government will offer companies in the tourism sector loans with annual rates of 10% and terms of up to 20 years for the construction of hotels.
Authorities in the Hernandez administration announced that among the financial products that are already available in the Honduran Bank for Production and Housing (Banhprovi), are loans for small and medium-sized tourism companies for a maximum amount of $34 thousand, with a 10% annual rate, with terms of up to seven years for fixed assets, three years for working capital and a two-year grace period for fixed assets.
A law that allows companies to use their personal property as collateral to obtain production loans has now come into force.
The president of the Higher Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP), José Adán Aguerri, stated that on Thursday, October 26, 2017, the Law on Secured Transactions entered into force, which was approved by the National Assembly in October 2016.
The customs union between Guatemala and Honduras favors small companies in particular, as they do not have to deal with the costly and slow procedures for export and passage through customs offices.
Although it does not yet cover the entire tariff universe, the effective customs union between Honduras and Guatemala will facilitate trade between both countries and this will have a positive impact on the development of both economies.
In 2016 the number of companies that sold goods and services to government institutions grew almost three times compared to 2015.
From the report "V Status Report on the SME Situation in 2016":
The V Status Report on the SME Situation in 2016 in Costa Rica indicates that sales to the state by companies that are registered in the Costa Rican Business Information System (SIEC), increased their share by 11.9%; which implies that the number of companies that sell to the state increased by 285 compared to 2015.
A call is being made to companies working in clothing and footwear, food, and tourism to attend a business conference to be held on April 6 in Managua.
The event is being organized by the Nicaraguan Development Institute (INDE), and is aimed at SMEs who are distributors of footwear, clothing, food and tourism, which, according to INDE, are the products most in demand at this time of year.
After closing 2016 with a 37% drop in profits, financial companies expect to achieve better results diversifying their services in an increasingly competitive market.
The total profits generated by financial companies in 2016 barely exceeded $2.4 million, a decrease of 37% compared to earnings in 2015.This year companies in the sector projected better results, some on them betting on the SME segment, some focusing on generating new business in the construction sector and others expanding their offering of services.