The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), member of the IDB Group, in collaboration with the Mexican university Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), will finance a project to increase the competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the supply chains of major anchor companies, and to develop more sustainable business practices in MSMEs.
The project will attempt to achieve this by training MSMEs, developing financial instruments for new energy efficiency and clean energy technology implementation, and designing a virtual center for the provision of advisory services to MSMEs that are interested in adopting both environmental practices and evaluation tools. Beyond improving efficiency and environmental management, this project will allow anchor companies to verify that their suppliers are meeting sustainability requirements, improving MSME competitiveness.
Like many other countries, Mexico is instituting policies to promote sustainable consumption and production practices that help decouple economic growth from environmental degradation. Training companies on energy efficiency, water usage and waste management has been identified by the Mexican government as a means to enhance economic competitiveness of the country while attaining the country’s environmental performance goals.
The adoption of sustainability practices and evaluation tools will help MSMEs cut costs for energy, water, and materials; reduce their risk of litigation due to noncompliance with national and local regulations; educate them in the marketing benefits of environmental management systems, and in business-to-business and business-to-customer brand value.
The challenge, however, is to develop a low-cost, educational tool that is accessible for MSMEs, particularly for those who have fewer than 30 employees, and effectively reach a significant proportion of the universe of MSMEs in the country in a short period of time.
This Project will be executed by ITESM, a private educational institution founded in 1943, with 33 locations throughout Mexico and with more than 8.400 qualified professors.
Once the project is complete, the MIF will share results with other local financial institutions to enhance the impact of the project and to provide those who need it with knowledge of what works, in order to catalyze behavioral changes among a broader number of MSMEs in Mexico.