EU: Access to finance major problem for SMEs

30 September 2009 in Banking, Economy, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Microfinance

The European Commission published the results of the new ”Flash Eurobarometer: SMEs’ access to finance”. The survey, conducted with 9071 firms in 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Iceland and Norway, was set up to assess EU companies’ use of various sources of finance, to get a picture of the magnitude of companies’ difficulties in getting [...]

AL-INVEST IV: A bridge between EU and Latin American SMEs

30 September 2009 in Banking, Clusters, Economy, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Networks, Trade
Tags: Latin America

The fourth phase of AL-INVEST, financed by the European Commission, aims at supporting the internationalisation of Latin American SMEs in collaboration with their European partners in order to contribute to reinforce social cohesion in the region. Unlike the previous phases, the fourth phase of the AL-INVEST (2009-2012) is implemented through three groups of business organisations [...]

Call for Contributions – Migration and Development, CEFE

30 September 2009 in Economy, Employment, Entrepreneurship, Migration

GTZ has contracted CEFE International to develop a Tool Box for the Promotion of Private Sector Development Commitment of Migrants. 15 innovative and well described ideas are needed. Approved contributions (4 pages) will be honoured with up to 375,00 USD. But you can gain even more. http://www.cefe.net/en/makemoney/call-contributions-migration-and-development

EIT needs experts for the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)

30 September 2009 in Entrepreneurship, European Union, OECD, Research, Standardisation, Technology

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched a call addressed to individuals for the establishment of a database of independent experts to assist the EIT in the process of the evaluation and implementation of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). The database will include profiles from the following areas: Sustainable energy, Climate change adoption [...]

SEED Awards 2009 for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development

3 February 2009 in Economy, Entrepreneurship

The SEED Initiative (Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development) has recently launched its call for proposals for the 4th edition of the ”2009 SEED Awards for entrepreneurship in sustainable development”. This award welcomes innovative ideas from any group in a developing country or country in transition worldwide, which is working in partnership with others to [...]

European Commission prepares Small Business Act

11 February 2008 in Entrepreneurship, European Union

The European Commission launched a public consultation on the content of a European ”Small Business Act”. Its objective is to put small and medium sized enterprises at the forefront of decision-making in the EU and to introduce concrete measures to unlock the SMEs’ growth potential. It will include new initiatives to reduce regulatory burden on [...]

EC Vice President Verheugen launches Enterprise Europe Network

11 February 2008 in Clusters, Development, Directories, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Networks

European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen launched Enterprise Europe Network, a new and powerful European support network for enterprises. All major players of the business support community in Europe have united to offer a one-stop service to assist especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop their full potential and innovative capacity. With more [...]