Regional policies supporting the internationalisation of SMEs
The internationalisation of SMEs activities is acknowledged as a factor of competitiveness for businesses and an engine for growth and welfare for the economy and the territories. Still, SMEs do not fully exploit the benefits brought by internationalisation, resulting in European economies missing growth opportunities.
Within the European Union, a large part of exports and imports is driven by large firms and multinational corporations only. SMEs are underrepresented in international trade: while they represent about 99% of businesses in Europe and provide two out of three jobs in the private sector, they account for far less than half of all exports and imports.
Thus, supporting the internationalisation of SMEs remains a priority in SME competitiveness policies. It is also one of the most represented topics among Interreg Europe projects in this thematic objective. Taking stock from their good practices and policy initiatives, the Platform experts have put together a selection of reading materials and online events that will help you better grasp how to support the internationalisation of SMEs.
Policy brief and focuses
- Policy brief:
Document
- Policy focus:
- Policy focus:
Online events
- E-workshop: Scaling up European SMEs
- Community brainstorming: Internationalisation of SMEs
Stories
- The power of regional stakeholders to improve internationalisation of SMEs
- Clustering for the internationalisation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)
Are you working on policies that focus on the internationalisation of SMEs? Do you struggle with particular aspects? We are here to help you: don't hesitate to write to us through the policy helpdesk.