By the end of 2024, 89.5% of active employers registered with the Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social (ISSS) belong to the micro and small enterprise (MSEs) sector, demonstrating their key role not only in the economy but also in job creation.

“Micro and small enterprises are an important driver of the national economy, and their growth reflects an increasingly accessible environment for entrepreneurship and formalization”, said Paul Steiner, president of the Comisión Nacional de la Micro y Pequeña Empresa (CONAMYPE).
In 2024, MSEs were the sector that contributed the most to Fondo de Inversión para la Productividad y el Crecimiento (FIFCO) and led the way in income tax payments among small taxpayers, demonstrating their fiscal importance.

One of the factors behind this dynamism is the business formalization process, which allows them to access financial services, Social Security, AFPs, and other benefits. Steiner emphasized that thanks to Simplified Joint Stock Companies (Sociedades por Acciones Simplificadas, SAS), creating a formal business is now faster, cheaper, and more accessible: it can be legally incorporated in just a few hours with a minimum capital of one dollar.
Likewise, in november 2023, the Government published the Microenterprise Economic Integration Policy, which establishes the path toward greater formalization and support for the sector. This policy seeks to eliminate bureaucratic barriers and facilitate the creation of formal businesses, thus strengthening the country’s taxpayer base.
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