Exhibitions benefit SME entrepreneurs
If the SME Machinery Exhibition 2008 is conducted in rural Sri Lanka, small and medium enterprise (SME) entrepreneurs will benefit, said Kumara Welgama, minister of industrial development, while inaugurating the exhibition recently, says Sunday Times.
Themed "Technology for Rural, Micro and SME Development", the exhibition was held for the third consecutive year. It included machinery, ancillary equipment, processes, methods and new technology.
Welgama said that due to soaring interest rates, even a small business is not sustainable and noted that a solution to remedy this crisis should be found. Nawaz Rajabdeen, president of FCCISL, said the promotion of SMEs is considered a clear approach to sustainable development.
SMEs demand 'real thing'
SMEs are increasingly demanding enterprise-grade technologies that offer sophisticated functionality and greater integration, says Accounting Web.
SMEs do not want scaled-down solutions but rather seek products that can be quickly and easily integrated and that have been packaged for their needs, enabling the business for the likes of enterprise resource planning.
Word of mouth is the best clue to accounting products that go beyond accounting but are still affordable for SMEs. Happy customers are the best guarantee that the software vendor the company is talking to knows how to match the right software to its specific needs.
Businesses unaware of ICT benefits
Barring the energy and financial sectors, businesses in the country are unaware of the benefits to be gained from ICT, says The Peninsula Qatar.
Addressing the inaugural Business Connect seminar at Sharq Village and Spa on "Technology and SMEs in Qatar: Opportunities and Challenges", Ali Al Khulaifi, enterprise development manager at ictQATAR, said: "There is a lack of competitive IT labour supply and a lack of information and data on ICT usage in Qatar."
However, steps are being taken to ensure such problems are a thing of the past, with the Business Connect series of seminars one of the first measures. A second seminar will be held later this year.
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