From Intervention to Empowerment: A New Approach to Assisting SMEs in Latin America: Regulation, Procurement, and Dispute Resolution

This paper outlines some of the issues that affect small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in three areas: regulation, procurement, and dispute resolution. The work presented herein is part of the Bank's most recent efforts to develop new approaches and instruments to strengthen its role as a major development partner of this important engine of growth in the Latin American and Caribbean region. It focuses on nonfinancial issues which have seldom been addressed systematically in the debate on the constraints hindering SMEs.