Public policy can usher in SME adoption of sustainable devt

Public policy can usher in SME adoption of sustainable devt

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a big role in today's global commerce and in achieving sustainable development, but governments and public policy hold the key to paving the way for the attainment of such potential.

"Global companies are outsourcing so many of the business operations and SMEs are playing a very important role in providing products and services that are sold to (them)," said Dr Terry Yosie, president of The World Environment Center.

"The role of SMEs is becoming increasingly important in the evolution of both global commerce and the practical challenges of achieving sustainable development for several reasons," he stressed during the recently held Asia Inc's National Environment Conference.

SMEs have their own environmental, societal and energy impacts so their increasing role in global commerce also means that they are leaving a larger carbon footprint, he said.

"Because they are becoming more of the primary producers of products, they are the ones who are increasingly extracting resources from the earth."

It is for these reasons, he added, that the world has to pay more attention to the SMEs. To get them to start thinking more about sustainable development, Yosie said there is a need for leadership "within the SMEs, ... within the customers and a need for leadership on the part of the government and policies".

The consumers and buyers also play a very important role in taking the leadership role because at the end of the day it is the customers who buy the products.

Yosie doesn't expect SMEs to be charitable organisations and spend extra revenue to change their operations to become more sustainable, and this is where the government and public policy come into play.

"They have to integrate sustainability into the very nature of SME business and this has to be about creating business value for the SMEs."

There are many opportunities to do that by reducing cost and saving energy by reducing cost to prevent waste, practicing recycling and so on, he said.

"Governments can provide incentives for companies that want to be more energy efficient and want to have healthier and safer work places, so there are a lot of 'low hanging fruit' to reducing cost."

There will be different challenges for different segments but government policies and actions can come in to play, he added.

"I have seen many successful examples all around the world where governments can create resources for research and development, or governments can foster partnerships between SMEs and research organisations and the SMEs are in a position where they can transfer those innovations to the markets." Debbie Too

The Brunei Times