On the 30th June in Brussels the INTERREG EUROPE Joint Secretary organized the 1st event of the Policy Learning Platform for the priority SME competitiveness.
The UpGradeSME Team had the opportunity to present the experiences made by the project, the involved policy instruments and the 1st learnings. The representative of the LP Pannon Business Network Mr. Balázs Barta showed the experiences of the work of the last one and the half years and took part on a short panel discussion as well.
The representatives of further IE projects of the SME competitiveness priority and with the focus on SME internationalization a participated on the event as well – 14 projects this time.
The PLP meeting was very promising and we think the Platform will enable us to collect and share as many knowledge as possible. We will meet again with the actors in October 2017 in Milan to continue the discussion. Until that time studies and information will be shared among the actors.
Some findings of our UpGradeSME project presented during the meeting:
1 - Understanding Internationalization of SME
• growth and profitability improvements
• intensify, sustain the competitive position through innovation and performance
• enhance managerial skills and human capital compatibilities
• diversifying business risks
2 - Diverse Europe
• The research findings about SMEs’ internationalization in developed countries cannot be directly applied to transition countries due to economic, institution, and cultural differences.
• There is a need for more research on internationalization of SMEs in Central and Eastern Europe
3 - State Subsidy Analysis
• To justify intervention in a market economy it is necessary to identify precisely where the market failure exists and whether it is possible to rectify that market failure through intervention.
• The costs of the intervention have to be carefully assessed and the benefits estimated.
About the platform you can read here: https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/sme-competitiveness/
Article about the event here:
More information:
Ms Andrea Kurucz (PBN) [email protected]
