According to the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT), almost two million people are employed in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
SMEs have a62 per cent share of total employment, just a few basis points less than the average in west European countries. This is expected to rise in the near future. SMEs can draw on EU programmes that partially compensate for poor access to financial sources compared to bigger companies. The Czech government has not supported the SME sector very well in the past. EU programmes for SME financing are an alternative source of funding.
MIT has created several SME programmes that provide advantageous loans, guarantees for bank loans and subsidies for advisory and information services.
