A Regional Position Paper as a contribution by the East Invest 2 project to the Eastern Partnership Business Forum in Tallinn this October contains a series of broad-ranging recommendations to improve the business climate for SMEs.
The regional position paper, endorsed at the final East Invest 2 project conference in Kiev on 21 June, was drafted with the input of around 200 business associations in the six EaP countries.
Key recommendations
As well as urging the adoption of digital solutions across the board, the paper’s main recommendations include:
- Simplifying admin procedures for SMEs and ensuring a level playing field for them through fair competition laws
- Enhancing financial literacy among SMEs so they can deal with complicated loan and funding application procedures
- Introducing an online platform across the EaP countries to allow SMEs to connect with each other and access information easily
- Establishing innovation bodies in each country
- Closing the skills gaps in the countries through educational reforms and involving business communities in drawing up curricula
- Simplifying and stabilising tax and customs systems for SMEs and treating them equally compared to state and larger enterprises
- Helping SMEs overcome technical barriers to trade by giving them better access to standardization and certification services.
Systematic public-private dialogue
The business support and private sector organisations also called upon political decision makers to conduct systematic public-private dialogue involving SMEs as a crucial element in designing and implementing reforms.
