SME Development
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the key to sustainable economic growth and prosperity in developed as well as in developing and transition countries. SMEs hold the majority proportion in terms of number of people employed, export earnings and overall number of businesses. Thus, SME support is a priority in the development strategies of many governments around the world. Since beneficial general framework conditions alone are not sufficient to boost economic growth, an increasing number of countries provide institutional support for SMEs by establishing agencies and business centres. These organisations offer advice and training to SMEs, preparing them for international competition and thereby ensuring the development of successful SME clusters.
The services Euro India offers in SME development cover three areas: Policy, Capacity Development and Funding.
Regarding policy, we support the development of policies and strategies for SME development at national and regional levels.
This includes:
- Advising on policy and strategy.
- Developing SME support schemes and programmes.
- Strengthening private sector institutions, e.g. chambers of commerce, associations, etc.
- Supporting SME development agencies and business centres in fostering SME clusters and networks on a regional, thematic or value-chain basis.
Our know-how transfer activities cover relevant topics such as:
- Entrepreneurship and management consulting.
- Start-ups, business strategy and planning.
- Personnel development.
- Transfer of technology and financial matters.
- Export and marketing.
- Evaluation of competitiveness.
- Project cycle management, including monitoring & evaluation.
For many SMEs funding difficulties represent a major obstacle to success. These problems are frequently due to inefficient financial markets, which are a characteristic of many transition and developing countries. Our assistance covers the supply side as well as the demand side of financial markets.
We can help by:
- Setting-up and supporting financing schemes with agencies and banks
- Supporting SMEs and SME development agencies in applying for loans and distributing information about availability and conditions of credit allocation, including project identification and development.
- Advising on policy and strategy.
- Developing SME support schemes and programmes.
- Strengthening private sector institutions, e.g. chambers of commerce, associations, etc.
- Supporting SME development agencies and business centres in fostering SME clusters and networks on a regional, thematic or value-chain basis.