“We have bet that it is the popular economy, which is that of San Victorino, the one that reaches the streets, that of the peasant, that of the micro-entrepreneur lady, that of the cooperative member, that of the search… Some intelligentsia asked in networks what means the popular economy for ‘the Government of change’, since half of the Colombian population driven, almost forced, to search. It is there where we believe that we can build the economic potential of Colombia if we empower it”.
With this message, President Gustavo Petro filed his National Development Plan (PND) before Congress on Monday night. The project, made up of 300 articles, places this concept – which appears 21 times in the 166-page text – at the center of its roadmap for the next four years, and in which $1,154.8 billion will be invested.
The final document that contains the bases of the Plan establishes that «the popular economy refers to commercial trades and occupations (production, distribution and commercialization of goods and services) and non-commercial (domestic or community) developed by low-scale economic units ( personal, family, micro-businesses or micro-enterprises), in any economic sector”.
For Roberto Angulo, founding partner of the Inclusion firm, «the definition that was quite interesting is broad and aims to cover the smallest businesses, micro-businesses, which would range from self-employment by the informal population, to small productive units, which they can even become formal”.
According to Angulo, if the definition of popular economy is similar to that of micro-businesses managed by Dane, around 80% or 90% would be informal.
the articulated
In relation to the bill, in article 58, the creation of the National Council of Popular Economy is proposed, an advisory and consultative body of the Government, and that would be regulated through the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism.
Said entity will have the role of formulating the lines of public policy for the popular economy and coordinating the inter-institutional actions necessary for it.
Article 70, on the other hand, proposes the creation of instruments for the financial and credit inclusion of the popular economy and it is proposed that the Ministry of Finance promote the development of instruments and programs for this.
Among the elements that these initiatives must consider is «the development, through the entities of Grupo Bicentenario, of portfolio guarantees for debtors, global funding lines with commissions and compensated rates, incentives for good payment, among other instruments that comply with the objective of this article.
According to the project, the necessary resources for the implementation of these instruments may be transferred from the General Budget of the Nation, in accordance with budgetary availability and the Medium-Term Fiscal Framework.
According to the Minister of Finance, José Antonio Ocampo, «with the budget the popular economy plan will be leveraged, in the part of the growth of credit to microentrepreneurs, to small owners, and it will be done through the Grupo Bicentennial and the cooperative system”.
To make a better traceability of the popular economy, the bill proposes in article 72 that the Dane should design an information system focused on it, for which it will have six months after the approval of the Plan. In addition, it is established in article 77 that the Dane will carry out the Economic Census in 2024, and that the popular economy units will be incorporated.
The PND also outlines state contracting, and it is proposed that in the selection processes it be possible to establish a score forecast factor «that encourages the execution of contracts by the population subject to special constitutional protection, such as the peasantry.» , small local producers, or people from the popular economy; provided that the conditions of quality and compliance with the contractual object are guaranteed” (art. 76).
It is also mentioned that Public entities may contract directly through a scheme or modality of Public-Popular Associations with units of the popular economy (art. 82) and that the National Agency for Public Procurement -Colombia Compra Eficiente- may also carry out processes of hiring which bidders are actors of the popular economy (art.83).
Public policy focused on the popular economy
To boost the popular economy, the Plan proposes the creation of a public policy, under an institutional framework that strengthens its capacity to generate income.
Another pillar will be the characterization of its magnitude and social and economic contribution, as well as the design of public-popular alliances in order to constitute instances of collective representation, and binding participation processes.
According to Roberto Angulo, “it is necessary to be very careful with the selection and targeting that will be done within the definition of popular economy to define the potential beneficiaries of these policies. It is necessary to differentiate between those micro-businesses that have a survival objective, from those considered as a business opportunity for their owner”. According to the expert, from there you can look at different outbreaks, whether they are policies to support those of subsistence, or stimuli.
LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
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