Delivering a speech at a meeting organized to promote the EEN to SMEs and entrepreneurs yesterday, Ergün noted that SMEs are dynamic instruments of the economy. He remarked that these enterprises are the locomotives of economic activities for almost every country and that they even play an important role in economic relations among countries. Ergün, recalling that Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding for the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Program (CIP) and put the program into effect in January, said coordination and collaboration were the answers to any problem.
Contracting demand during times of crisis shifts from conventional firms to companies that are open to new ideas and are ready to produce new products, the minister remarked, continuing: “The SMEs that desire to be among these firms will be provided services such as consultation, information on EU legislation and market research by the EEN for free.”
The consortium will also give SMEs access to a database of hundreds of thousands SMEs across Europe, which will enable them to transfer technology, do market research and also increase export opportunities, Ergün stated. In this regard, the SMEs will have the chance to cooperate and develop joint projects with other SMEs in the Europe, emphasizing the necessity of the SMEs to expand into overseas markets in line with globalization.
The minister also stated that the ministry is ready to give any support to the SMEs and to provide guidance to entrepreneurs in every field. The meeting was also attended by Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, president of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB).
CIP, which aims to encourage the competitiveness of European enterprises with SMEs as its main target, will run from 2007 to 2013. With a total budget of 3.62 billion euros, the program is one of the largest framework programs in this field. CIP is divided into three programs, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (EIP), Information Communication Technologies Policy Support Program and Intelligent Energy Europe. EIP, which has a budget of 2 billion euros, was put into effect on Jan. 20 by the Industry and Trade Ministry. The most important tool established under CIP is the EEN, which includes the Small and Medium Industry Development Organization (KOSGEB) and seven groups made up of universities and chambers of commerce and industry.
