MicroEnterprise Americas: Fall, 2006

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Date issued
Sep 2006
This issue of MicroEnterprise Americas explores the various issues and challenges of extending economic opportunities to all. The Special Section of the magazine focuses on access to markets, which most microenterprises characterize as the single most important challenge they face after access to finance. One article highlights value chains and linkages as a means of providing better market access; another article analyzes the pros and cons of offering a protected public procurement market for smaller enterprises; a third feature offers arguments in favor of developing associations and other partnerships when facing outside competition. As in previous years, this issue also presents articles on a variety of other subjects, such as the use of technology to link microenterprises with potential investors through the Internet and setting up a special "disaster" fund to assist MFIs in affected areas. Finally, the magazine portrays the accomplishments of the four winners of the Microenterprise Awards.