PIN-SME

Brussels, 9 October, 2008 – At the 11th Summit Economic Forum of Central European Initiative (CEI) hosted by Moldova, PIN-SME participated on a conference session together with the European Commission. The session is entitled “SMEs and ICT in the CEI Region: Entrepreneurial associations’ role in fostering growth and competitiveness” and PIN-SME was represented by the Secretary General Mr Sebastiano Toffaletti. Moreover, Martin Prager and George Brashnarov - Austrian and Bulgarian PIN-SME members - intervened on behalf of their national organizations.

SMEs and ICT in the CEI Region: Entrepreneurial Associations’ Role in Fostering Growth and Competitiveness of Small Businesses in ICT

As elaborated during the session, SMEs in the ICT market are strategic to guarantee prosperity and sustainable development to the overall society. Due to this variety and interdependency among different dedicated areas, companies need to operate in networks and clusters in order to be more effective and benefit from each other. Externalisation and sub-contracting are, among others, typical forms of cooperation that characterise the business behaviour of ICT operators. These enterprises need to find business partners in other countries in order to establish cross-border alliances and access new markets. Trans-national federations of associations should serve as bridges among SMEs from different countries and enable the establishments of crossborder business partnerships. Thus, participation of national associations to European umbrella organizations are important to establish strategic alliances, to benefit from best practices exchange and activities in an international environment. 

Download the presentation of Mr. Martin Prager here

Download the presentation of Mr. George Brashnarov here

Download the detailed program of CEI SEF08 here