The development of SME: foreign experience

Chapter 1 SME in the economy of the country

The experience of many European countries showed that small and medium enterprises play a huge role in the economy of any country. This role is to stimulate competition, which in turn forces the big companies to improve the efficiency of the production process and implement new technologies. As a result economic efficiency increases. For this reason, the main objectives related to support for SME, for example, in the European Union are: to increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises, balancing the interests of business and government, providing optimal conditions for the operation of SMEs.

In foreign countries, the development of SMEs is much faster than in Russia. There to the subject of economic relations is important. In developed countries, the SME is a middle class that is base for a successful and sustainable economic development. Today in developed Western countries, about 70-90% of enterprises - is the organization of small and medium-sized businesses. In the EU, for example, about half of the working population works in small and medium-sized businesses, in Japan this value is 71.7%, while in the US - 53%. In the EU, small and medium-sized enterprises provide 17% of total employment and 20% of the total turnover of all enterprises, although their share is only 1% of the total number of organizations.

In Europe, the support and regulation system for small and medium-sized businesses began to take shape in the 70-s of the twentieth century and continues to improve until now by creating funds to support SME and by implementation of various programs. Today the main areas of support for SME include: " Financial support for SME; the simplification of the regulatory framework and administrative procedures in the field of SME support; participation of associations representing the interests of SME in decision-making in the framework of EU; assistance to SME in the field of research, innovation and training of the future employees; elimination of irregularities in the functioning of the "single market" and competition in it that reduce efficiency of SME; increasing the competitiveness of SME for the purpose of entering foreign markets; cultivation of the entrepreneurial spirit among the population of the EU and support of various forms of cooperation between SME. «

There is a unique network of public and private organizations that regulate the development and support of SME in Europe. They constantly interact with each other, providing a streamlined and efficiently functioning system. One of the examples are public institutions particularly the chambers of commerce involved in training and skills development, another example is employment ministry, assisting SMEs in matters of education, employment, development, international trade, etc. Other examples related to private financial institutions could be venture companies and banks that provide credit support for SME and range of other companies.

"In the last few years such interactive tools to support SME as information portals, webinars, video conferencing etc have widely spread in Europe. As an example there is continental network that supports small and medium business (European Enteprise Network) - Portal with free information resources to support SME, which combines more than 600 agencies and organizations that act as an intermediary between SME and the European Union. Any SME representative can easily and quickly learn about all the possibilities of the company's development, about new methods and technologies, staff training, to evaluate the riskiness of work in another EU country and, most importantly, to get direct contacts and all the necessary information about a specific European fund, which can co-finance the development project of the enterprise. «

The main objectives of the regulation and support of small and medium-sized businesses in Europe include: removing administrative barriers to run small and medium-sized businesses, the unification of the legal framework, strengthening the internal market of the EU and the strengthening of interactions between the countries of the European Union for deeper economic cooperation with other countries.

Another illustrative example of a successful SME development is Japan. This country can impress everyone by its success in many areas. It has achieved this feat through the development and introduction of new technologies by the SME sector. But today the situation has changed, large corporations and high-tech companies are in charge of development and introduction of high technology products, while SMEs are represented mainly by the services sector, construction and light industry. Thats why now the Japanese government is actively promoting the development of knowledge and technical production mainly in small and medium-sized businesses.

Associations and Insurance Corporation have been established to guarantee loans. Such step was taken to simplify the mechanism of financial SME support. The government actively assists SMEs in obtaining loans at all stages of development gives loans and grants, especially for those SMEs who are actively involved in the development of high-tech industry.

Providing support, the state also tightly regulates the activities of SMEs. Special governmental agency is in charge of it. This agency monitors if SMEs are compliant with the antimonopoly legislation. It limits the control of the business owners, defines the responsibility of customers and performers in the contractual relations, and so on. The legislation sets status and the size of benefits for SMEs, according to their activity. In addition, the government sets strict regulation of the market value of the products. This allows to control rising prices and keep inflation at the lowest level.

Thus, Japan is a country where excellent conditions for development of small and medium-sized businesses have developed in all areas, because there is a strict control of the state in monitoring the development and functioning of SME sector.

Speaking about SME, we can not skip such country as the United States. Today there are more than 20 million small and medium-sized businesses there. Scientists estimate that each 3-d American family owns own business.

In the US, the support for SMEs began in the 50s of the XX century, when the Small Business Administration (SBA) was established. It is operated now, protecting the interests of SMEs at the governmental level and has offices in all major cities of the country. Today it is one of the largest governmental organizations specializing in the support of SMEs in the world. Business centers, counseling centers, partner organizations and firms also support SME in US.

Agencies of AMB have close cooperation with development centers of Enterprise (CDE). Its main tasks are finding sources of business financing, providing advice on the expansion of already existing businesses, as well as training representatives of SME management skills and how to run business. That is maid by providing entrepreneurship.

There is a stable system of state regulation and support for SMEs in the United States and there is a well-developed network of state orders. Government provides guarantees for loans. There are also private equity firms that invest in small and medium businesses using their own and borrowed capital.

So, we can conclude that in developed countries, there is an organized system of state control and support for SMEs, which promotes the active development of the economies of these countries, particularly in the innovative direction.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29