Small and medium-sized businesses have been a priority for the State for many years. But it is necessary to constantly ensure that it grows and develops. After all, only supporting entrepreneurship not only in its beginnings, but also in the process of active growth, allows us to have great companies that will become the face of the country. Participants in the session “Promoting Quality Growth: Strategies and Tools for SMEs” at the XXVII St. Petersburg International Economic Forum discussed how to do this.
FIGHT FOR MONEY FOR NATIONAL PROJECTS
– Now is a very important moment for the entire team of the Ministry of Economic Development: national projects are being formed. It is no secret that there is a very intense struggle for resources. And our task is to show everyone that SMEs are the ones that really drive and change the economy. And something that allows us to resist inflation,” said Maxim Reshetnikov, head of the Ministry of Economic Development.
As part of the new priority areas, the authorities are paying special attention to the transition from quantitative to qualitative growth and increasing labor productivity. And the goal is not only to increase the number of small businesses, but also to increase their efficiency, productivity and innovative potential.
– In 2018, a goal was set for small businesses: 25 million Russian citizens must legally work in small and medium-sized businesses. Thanks to our joint efforts, we were able to complete this task in six years. And during this time, small businesses have not only grown, what is more important is how society began to treat them. Social surveys indicate that the attitude of Russian citizens towards small businesses has radically improved during this time. The country is gradually becoming a business-type country,” said Alexander Kalinin, director of OPORA RUSSIA.
SIZE MATTERS
The business is designed in such a way that it should always grow. Transform ourselves from a small company to a medium-sized one, and from a medium-sized one to a large one. But obstacles often appear on this path. Often, it is simply not profitable for many companies to leave the SME sector and lose many profits.
– The role of small and medium-sized companies will be key. And we need to solve a key issue: creating a seamless system for the growth of small and medium-sized businesses. In recent years we have been faced with the fact that the situation of SMEs has become a kind of limitation for development and that overcoming this perimeter was difficult and economically significant,” explained Maxim Reshetnikov.
According to OPORA Russia calculations, currently 97% of the SME structure are micro-businesses, 2.5% are small businesses and only 0.5% are medium-sized businesses. These proportions should be changed gradually. So that as many companies as possible go through these stages and become a business ready to go public.
FINANCING CHALLENGES
One of the main problems for small businesses, and any other, is finding investment. Leverage is now essentially closed. The official interest rate of the Central Bank is very high: 16% per year. The vast majority of companies cannot raise money at 20-25% annually. One way out could be the stock market. Doubling it by 2030 is also one of the government’s objectives. Raising funds on the stock market is, in many ways, cheaper for companies. But to do this it is necessary to make this market more accessible to small businesses.
– Increasing the availability of stock market instruments for growing small and medium-sized businesses is a big deal. How to be able to publicly attract money for your projects and share future profits with investors, without being a company with revenues of 10 billion rubles, says Konstantin Basmanov, vice president of PSB.
LABOR PRODUCTIVITY
But it’s one thing to just get money. It is quite another to manage them effectively. In large companies, process optimization is carried out by special departments or consulting companies hired for this purpose. This is not suitable for small businesses.
– We need to expand the productivity support system throughout the country. For example, why not train specialists to improve productivity? Every company should have the opportunity to hire such a specialist. Let’s make sure that in the new national project small businesses have access to the state system of support for measures to increase labor productivity,” Alexander Kalinin suggested.
The Ministry of Economic Development supported this idea.
– We need to find a solution for SMEs. We will probably adopt platform solutions and teach how to improve productivity,” Maxim Reshetnikov agreed.
Additionally, the criteria for the national project include growth in revenue per employee at a rate higher than GDP growth.
HOW TO ACHIEVE THIS?
As the authorities promise, additional development tools and strategies will be developed to achieve priority objectives. In particular, supporting the entry of SMEs into foreign markets, developing and modernizing business infrastructure, creating favorable conditions for the start-up and growth of small businesses.
– The role of entrepreneurship should be evident to everyone. Focusing on entrepreneurship is very important to us. All the technological advances that have emerged do not come from the public sector,” said the head of the Ministry of Economic Development.
However, many companies do not want to accept money from the government to avoid unnecessary control over its use. But in the case of technological innovations, it is impossible to do without subsidies (that is, free). Otherwise, many projects will never be implemented.
– There is a debate: are subsidies needed or not? In Russian reality, this is simply a necessary element. We do not know of any other effective mechanism to overcome the “valley of death” of technology companies, apart from state subsidies,” explained Sergei Poliakov, general director of the Fund for Assistance for the Development of Small Innovative Businesses in the Field of Science and Technology. Technical.
HELP “KP”
From June 5 to 8, 2024, the XXVII Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum was held. The motto of the event is “The basis of a multipolar world is the formation of new growth points.” During four days at the forum, 982 agreements were signed with a total value of 6.43 trillion rubles. This is almost double what it was a year ago. This time 21.3 thousand guests from 139 countries participated in the SPIEF events. The largest delegations came from China, the United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe, Kazakhstan and India.
