The importance of small and medium enterprises in the city of cuenca-ecuador and their contribution to the creation of employment

The aim of this paper is to determine the contribution of SMEs in the national economy and particularly in the city of Cuenca based on the revision of literature about the importance of these enterprises worldwide in order to finally establish the classification used in the data analysis. Due to its nature, the research is descriptive and is based on official information obtained from the last National Economic Census where it is possible to identify and analyse the sectors and the economic activities, according to the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), that have a greater contribution in the economy. The results obtained explain the importance of the participation of SMEs in the country's economy and especially in the city of Cuenca regarding the number of businesses and employment, mainly in commerce and the manufacturing industry. However, the results show that wealth is generating in a few large companies, thus demonstrating the unfair nature of the national economy, which is more evident in the city of Cuenca.