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DECEMBER 1, <strong>2016</strong><br />
SMEs get a shot-in-the arm<br />
Staff Reporter<br />
info@indiannewslink.co.nz<br />
05<br />
Small Business<br />
Minister Craig Foss<br />
earned the attention<br />
and interest of<br />
the business community in<br />
Manukau City last fortnight<br />
but the longevity of that status<br />
would depend on how<br />
well the government lives<br />
up to its promise.<br />
Attending a meeting organised<br />
by National MP<br />
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi at<br />
the Vodafone Events Centre<br />
on November 24, <strong>2016</strong>, he<br />
outlined the measures taken<br />
by his government to<br />
address the problems and<br />
challenges faced by Small<br />
and Medium Enterprises<br />
(SMEs) in New Zealand.<br />
Speaking under the<br />
theme, ‘Taking Care of<br />
Business,’ he said that SMEs<br />
should engage with government<br />
organisations<br />
such as ACC, IRD, Statistics<br />
New Zealand, WorkSafe,<br />
Employment New Zealand,<br />
ATEED and MBIE to derive<br />
the benefit of their experience,<br />
expertise and advise.<br />
“These agencies will provide<br />
support and information<br />
that can help you run<br />
your businesses successfully,”<br />
he said.<br />
Officials from the aforementioned<br />
agencies explained<br />
their role.<br />
Craig Foss and Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi with some of the attendees<br />
Important Sectors<br />
SMEs are the backbone of<br />
New Zealand’s economy but<br />
cash flow and marketing are<br />
their greatest challenges.<br />
Experts say that small enterprises<br />
grossly under-leverage<br />
their assets. They<br />
often have excess capacity<br />
in both plant and labour<br />
and cannot consistently<br />
meet their customers’ delivery<br />
expectations. They accept<br />
orders or assignments<br />
which they are not capable<br />
of fulfilling.<br />
Revisiting policies<br />
Such anomalies can be removed<br />
if the government<br />
reviews its policies and programmes<br />
affecting the small<br />
businesses and provide additional<br />
incentives, tax<br />
holidays and/or lower levels<br />
of taxation and export<br />
assistance.<br />
There is also a need to<br />
obtain a regular feedback<br />
from such enterprises on<br />
their performance, constraints<br />
and problems, to<br />
realign polices and strategies<br />
for their continued<br />
progress.<br />
As mentioned, the incentives<br />
proposed for the small<br />
business sector are good but<br />
does not address all its concerns.<br />
Entrepreneurs today<br />
must confront a series<br />
of challenges- rising competition,<br />
fear of domination<br />
by multinationals, adverse<br />
impact of globalisation, increasing<br />
overheads, tariffs<br />
on exports and higher incidence<br />
of taxation and in<br />
some cases, double taxation.<br />
Currency fluctuations are<br />
yet another factor that could<br />
swing their fortunes and the<br />
impact of the firming dollar<br />
on our exporters can be addressed<br />
only through timely<br />
lowering of interest rates.<br />
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