THE Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) has done yeoman service in giving a hand up to many small entrepreneurs.

It has recorded many success stories among people who turned to it for help to put their business operations on a firmer footing and this has opened up employment opportunities for more Guyanese.

Without the institute and the access to funds it has provided from donor institutions, these small business people would have found it much harder to develop.

As a result, people in a whole range of operations, from agriculture to hairdressing, have grown from strength to strength into viable enterprises, setting sterling examples for others.

In what must be a sure sign of a realisation of their growing importance and what they can achieve with proper organisation, the Guyana Small Business Association, which has been around for many years, has put up recommendations for development of the small enterprise sector.

The proposals are in a document President of the association, Mr. Patrick Zephyr presented this week to Tourism, Industry and Commerce Minister, Mr. Manzoor Nadir.

The putting together of the document shows that the group intends to lobby further for the cause of small enterprise after what Mr. Zephyr acknowledged was the low profile the association has had.

He said this was because the leaders were not properly stimulated to do otherwise.

The impetus to change that must be welcomed because while the emphasis is understandably on larger enterprises, small businesses have a critical supportive role.

In the larger industrialised countries, small firms and operations are vital cogs in the overall huge operations run by giant enterprises, providing key parts and services to keep things turning over smoothly.

And with proper systems in place, the `small people' can be just as valuable here.

At the handing over of the document, Mr. Nadir pointed to the importance of small business, saying the sector contributes significantly in any market economy.

He promised that his ministry will be beefing up its resources to provide assistance to small businesses in the form of project planning, marketing, access to financing and other technical aspects that they may not be able to individually finance.

According to the association, among issues that need to be addressed are legislation to deal with registration, protection to ensure that small businesses get a share of the Government's procurement and peculiarities of the small business sector.

The Guyana Small Business Association deserves commendation for looking carefully at matters crucial to the sector and for putting up constructive proposals for discussion and action.

The document is a good platform to ensure the further and proper development of small businesses so that they can take their proper role in the economy.

It is also up to the association to push for the follow-up action so necessary for such initiatives to bear fruit.