SIE partners and their local stakeholder group members visited a chilly Hannover in February to find out about Lower Saxony's approach to helping companies with internationalisation. The group met with some companies doing well in international markets and had discussions with some of the support services available to SME in the region. The partners were particularly impressed by the financial support available to companies wishing to explore new international markets as well as the well-established network of Lower Saxony offices abroad which companies can access to help them with market entry.
The visit was the fifth of seven study visits planned during phase 1 of the SIE project and partners plan to take some of the learning from the partner regions to improve SME internationalisation support programmes in their own local contexts.
