New partnership to help SMEs seize global opportunities

The European Commission (EC) has launched a new partnership to help SMEs to profit from fast-growing markets such as China, India, Russia and regions like South East Asia and Latin America.

Currently only 13 per cent of SMEs are internationally active outside the EU through trade, investment or other forms of cooperation with foreign partners.

The EC sees promoting and supporting SMEs’ economic activities outside the EU as an important part of the Union’s overall competitiveness strategy and has, therefore, launched the Small Business, Big World partnership to help them penetrate new markets and find the right local partners.

The new strategy sets out six fields of action:

• Strengthening and mapping the existing supply of support services;
• Creating a single virtual gateway to information for SMEs;
• Making support schemes at EU level more consistent;
• Promoting clusters and networks for SME internationalisation;
• Rationalising new activities in priority markets;
• Leveraging existing EU external policies.

Free Resources

Related posts:

SMEs Think Global As Domestic Confidence Drops British companies are ‘wisely’ placing their faith in overseas markets after a sharp drop in confidence and renewed fears over domestic demand for the first...

‘Small Business Needs Help to Drive Export-led Growth’ Managers of British SMEs highlight pressing need for the assistance identified in the Government’s Trade and Investment White Paper Following the Government’s commitment to help...

Should the Green Investment Bank support SMEs? We are told small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hold the key to our economic recovery, yet lack of credit continues to be a major barrier...

Boost for SMEs as minister tells large suppliers ‘the days of mega-contracts are over’ It’s the day of the SME as cabinet office minister Francis Maude warned large technology providers to government that the glory days of mega-contracts are...

SMEs invited to live Apple webchat SMEs invited to live Apple webchatSmall business owners have been invited to take part in a live webchat on the 2nd of December that discusses...