DECEMBER 2005 / JANUARY 2006
The future looks bright with the right partners
Success in the global market can be a difficult goal to reach for small- and medium-sized companies in Europe, with many of them struggling to find the needed financial resources and EU funding to build on. So instead of going it alone, why not try out pooling resources with like-minded businesses? Ruth Taplin explains
With 65% of European GDP coming from small firms (compared with 45% in the US) and an increasingly globalized market place in which they have to operate, it is very worrying that Europe's SMEs are losing the battle to compete with cheaper suppliers from Asia Pacific and more technologically advanced offerings from the US. Industry and governments accept that this is a major threat to the future prosperity of the EU and that it is essential to better support European small firms in their struggle to add value to their offerings through innovation and improved use of new technology.
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