Road closures are suffocating small and medium-sized businesses

More than 30 days of closure of major roads across the country is taking its toll on micro, small and medium-sized businesses that cannot overcome losses caused by the covid-19 pandemic, says President of the National Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Umpyme), Franklin Martínez.

Micro, small and medium enterprises represent more than 80% of the companies that contribute to the national economy, they are the engine of the economy, and the covid-19 pandemic hit 40% of this sector, which went bankrupt as a result. paralysis of economic activities in 2019 – 2020, explains Martínez.

To the above, Martínez adds 10% of this business structure affected by road closures in June 2022, a figure that is repeated or could be higher after more than 30 days of closure due to the rejection of mining activities in Panama.

The impact of COVID-19 has been devastating to Panama’s micro-business sector, destroying 6,061 units, 18.7% of employment and eliminating at least $64,000 in benefits; already predicted by organizations such as ECLAC, ILO and EGADE as a result of the adoption of restrictive measures, it is highlighted in the study: Effects of COVID-19 on microenterprises in Panama by Professor Reyes Arturo Valverde Batista from the University of Panama.

In particular, retail micro-enterprises were the most affected when the closure measures were imposed in Panama, according to the study.

Currently, traffic restrictions due to protestor closures mean that bank obligations, credit cards, basic utility payments and rent payments are suffocating small business owners, according to MSME leader Franklin Martinez.

We are not in a pandemic, so we do not expect special treatment from banks, and there is no local product for micro, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs. Martinez said.

“We are closing the arteries through which the blood of the national economy flows. Micro, small and medium entrepreneurship is the most flourishing and representative sector of the national economy, but it is obviously the service sector,” he pointed out.

President of the association National Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (Umpyme), Franklin Martínez, joins the call he made National Council of Private Entrepreneurship (Conep) aThe President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, to take the necessary legal measures to restore peace and tranquility.

“If we continue on this path of destruction, we will continue to affect jobs, mainly small, medium and micro enterprises in a sensitive way because they are the most vulnerable sector of the business fabric,” said the president from Conep, Rubén Castillo.

For employment analyst René Quevedo, the fact that 70% of jobs in Panama are personal means that any restriction on mobility will automatically generate unemployment.