为了倡导和促进小企业积极变革,SBEC被公认为萨摩亚小企业的最佳倡导者,其活动引起了政府和捐助者、政府各部和组织的注意,SBEC与这些组织建立了网络,以促进小企业发展的利益。
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
The Pacific region’s persity is remarkable, it is made up of countries and territories with varyingland sizes, populations, natural resources, economies and cultures. The main economic sectorswithin the pacific region are agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism, Remittances play anincreasingly vital role within the economies of Pacific SIDS, contributing directly towardseconomic growth and sustaining livelihoods, including meeting education and basic needs.
Geographic isolation from the rest of the world and the small land areas and population sizes ofSIDS give rise to unique and challenges for sustainable development Pacific SIDS aredisadvantaged from diseconomies of scale in production and exchange of goods and services,remote isolation from vital export markets and a high vulnerability notwithstanding thesechallenges, the environment, culture and uniqueness caused by isolation has created a robusttourism industry with potential for continued growth. Isolation has also created resilientcommunities with strong traditions, cultures and coping capacity. It’s paradoxical that pacificSIDS are also described as resilient social systems which may succumb to a “knock- out” event atany time.
Many SIDS face challenges in Internet connectivity because of their remoteness and thereforethe high cost of crossing open sea, combined with small populations, low population density andconsequent low economies of scale which frequently result in higher connectivity costs. Some ofthe Pacific SIDS are recognized as some of the poorest and weakest countries of the Internationalcommunity, with Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tuvalu, Timor Leste and Vanuatu, currentlycategorized as Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
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1.2 Problem Statement
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a distinct group of developing countries that are knownfor vulnerabilities resulting from their small populations, limited export base, higher exposure toglobal economic disruptions and ominous natural disasters.
These challenges posed by SIDS to SMEs causes the arise of the following challenges in SMEs;
Sustainability of SME’s
Access to funding
Limited business opportunities
Lack of capacity building
Lack of collateral
Limited market access
Lack of available resources
This study aims on exploring/assessing the feasibility of sustainable SMEs, how to promotesustainable enterprises - SMEs and how these SMEs in the Pacific region can create employmentopportunities and reduce vulnerability.
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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction.
Literature review seeks to critically analyse the work and submission of other authors and writersrelating to the subject matter been researched in a dissertation, as cited by Jankowicz in Saunderset al (2009). Writers concede, literature review as a means of having a grounded understanding ofthe subject matter, which then presents varying research opportunities whilst at the same timerecognising the work of others in that area for either supportive role or for critiquing(Engageinresearch.ac.uk, 2016).
As such, this chapter intends to identify the most relevant portions of discourse and ideaspostulated by earlier writers, which will be utilised to create more understanding about this topic.The research will also seek to present practical solutions through the identification of gaps oruncharted areas of this topic which also brings it to alignment with Saunders, who promote thatsuch research allows for gaps to be identified and strategies formulated (Saunders, Lewis andThornhill, 2016).
This literature review describes aspects connected to the study of the challenges faced by SMEsin Samoa. It therefore follows a particular layout. First, some definitions relating to SMEs aregiven, which is followed by looking at the characteristics of SMEs in Samoa. This paves the wayfor the discussion of their contribution to the economic development and growth and also lookedat literatures concerning SMEs in Samoa as well as the various local and internationalorganizations that foster and enables them.
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2.2 SME Definitions
As Ward (2005) mentions, there is no standard definition for SMEs as the definition relies uponwho is defining it and where it is being defined. Taking into example SME’s in Canada, a SMEis defined as an enterprise that has less than 500 employees and small enterprise as one that hasless than 100 employees. The World Bank defines SMEs as having no more than 500 employees.
SMEs can be defined in two ways: based on the number of employees in an enterprise and/or theenterprises fixed assets. According to Purcell (2002), the size of the enterprises employment oremployees is the most important criterion used in Samoa. It is noted though, that that one mustbe cautious when defining SME’s based off of fixed assets reason being the continuousdepreciation in the exchange rates, which makes the definition outdated.
UNIDO defines SMEs in developing countries based off of the number of employees in anenterprise. A small enterprise has between 5 and 19 employees, taking into example theubiquitous and familiar small shops that can be found within the cities or towns such as hairdressing saloons and convenience stores. A medium enterprise has 20 to 99 employees which soinclude manufacturing and exporting companies. In Samoa, a small business employs 5 or lesspeople and a medium enterprise employs 40 or less employees (Purcell, 2002). What this showsis that in some countries, especially developed ones, the upper most limit is not as low as is thecase with SME’s in Samoa. Therefore, all SME’s studied within this paper would necessarily beclassified as small.
Figure 3: DBS Annual Report 2017
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Chapter 3: Research Methodology ....................................... 27
3.1 Sampling and Data collection................................. 28
3.1.1 Secondary data............................ 28
3.1.2 Primary Data................................... 28
Chapter 4: Empirical Findings Analysis ..................................... 32
4.1 Assessment of Loan use and repayment for DBS, NBS, SCB, ANZ ............................. 32
4.2 Many SMEs in Samoa are informal in nature ............................ 33
Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusion ............................... 40
5.1 Limitations of the Study............................. 40
5.2 Discussion ......................................... 41
Chapter 4: Empirical Findings Analysis
4.1 Assessment of Loan use and repayment for DBS, NBS, SCB, ANZ
SME’s gained access to financing and were provided with business advisoryservices and training.New businesses were started while existing ones were expanded through the assistance of theguarantee scheme and microfinance facility (MFF). Income opportunities were provided by theproject as indicated in the table below, by the profits of enterprises. However, the number ofenterprises in the guarantee scheme that reported profits decreased over time. As regards the MFF,most of the microfinance clients reported an increase in their incomes after joining the program.The relatively better repayment performance of MFF clients indicates that borrowers had the cashflow to repay their loan, and their continued use of the microfinance services suggest that the loanhelped improve their welfare.
Under the guarantee scheme, the sample businesses sourced their loans from the following banks:ANZ (14%); DBS (35%); SCB (37%); NBS (21%); and Westpac (10%). On average, the samplebusinesses took out a loan from these banks only once. The average amount borrowed for the firstloan was ST14, 100. The loan proceeds were used as starting capital for business by 41% of therespondents, while 59% used the proceeds as additional working capital for existing businesses.
Table 4: Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme
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5.1 Limitations of the Study
Limitations in research refer to conditions that may impact on results of the study (O’Leary,2004) but are outside the control of the researcher. The following are some of the mainlimitations of this study;
The time for the study was not enough to carry out intensive and extensive study, notablythis work was done in eight (8) weeks only which were not enough to exploit everyopportunity I got, like it was difficult for me to conduct Questionnaires hence I only usedinterview questions to collection primary data.
Noting that, SIDS face many challenges as shown in this thesis, to explore more you needmore funds. So the establishment of SMEs in South Pacific region is a very difficult taskto this society and other difficulties are caused by culture and education level rather thanthreatening climate changes. So to provide a more convincing work on establishment ofcommunity-based enterprises - SMEs need to be carried-out in detail.
Poor infrastructure both transport and communication in rural areas which led to failure toconduct interviews in rural areas.
Language barrier because I failed to reach-out Samoan citizens that are not familiar withEnglish language.
reference(omitted)