Conference on role of small business in national development starts

AMMAN – Jordan, along with nine other Arab countries, is discussing the role of small-sized businesses in the development process and in overcoming the economic challenges facing the region. 

Beginning on Tuesday, the three-day conference titled 'The Small-Sized Businesses and Productive Families as a Tributary for Development: Role of Municipalities, Civil Society and the Public and Private Sectors", participants are looking into ways through which small and innovative schemes can help combat poverty among the youth and the role that banks and finance institutions can play to support them.

 Organised by the Social Development Ministry in cooperation with the Arab Urban Development Institute (AUDI), the event provides a venue for researchers and experts to pinpoint the socio-economic transformations in the region and their impact on local communities, while discussing means to address them according to related international trends.

At the opening ceremony, President and Chairman of AUDI's board of trustees, Sheikh Abdullah Al Ali Al Nuaim underlined the importance for Arabs of working together to develop their countries, with a special focus on improving the wellbeing of the underprivileged. 

Social Development Minister Wajih Azaizeh stressed the importance of small businesses in supporting national economies, as they are able to end the cycle of poverty and encourage women's economic participation.

"To this end, more needs to be done to ensure that policies and legislation in the Arab world are encouraging for small businesses, which should be deemed as a prerequisite for urban development," the minister said.

Participants will come up with recommendations to support small businesses and productive families in order to serve as a reference for policy makers and funding institutions.