Competitiveness in Focus - Institutions for the Development of SMEs National Evaluation Event

The leaders of the EU have recognised that the economic success of the European Union is based on the competitiveness of the small and medium enterprises. Therefore at the request of the European Commission, the consortium of the Enterprise Europe Network HCE (EEN-HCE) and the Hungarian National Trading House have launched their round table discussion series, the purpose of which is to review the set of tools available for the SMEs and the institutions of trade development, and to improve cooperation.

The trend that the demands of the entrepreneurs are in the focus of the development of SMEs is more and more striking at the international forums. The decision-making and strategy developing processes are built rather on information coming from the bottom, from the customers and SMEs, instead of decision-making on the top.

Small and medium enterprises play a more and more significant role in the stimulation of the economy of the EU, and serve as a backbone for the growth of the European Union. According to a report drawn by the European Committee and studying years 2015 and 2016, out of 100 trading companies, 99 are small and medium enterprises in the European Union. Out of each produced EUR 1, 57 cents are produced by SMEs of the EU. According to a survey made in 2015, the major challenges for the European small and medium enterprises are the finding of proper business partners (25) and the lack of qualification and management skills (18%). According to a forecast made by the European Union, the contribution of the SMEs of the EU to the growth of the European economy will increase by 7% in 2017. The small and medium enterprises serve as a backbone for the European Union, and in 2015, 23 million SMEs of the EU generated nearly EUR 4000 billion and employed 90 million employees.

In addition to other SMEs, Julius Globe was also invited to the regional sections of the programme series arranged in March and April and to the national evaluation event. At the national event built on the results of the regional events, partners, institutions and chambers involved in the development of small and medium enterprises sat at a desk. The common aim was to map up the business development institution system and to increase the efficiency of cooperation.