The government said it would urgently promote measures designed to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with a view to bolstering their competitiveness.
“Enterprises cannot wait,” development minister Dimitris Sioufas told a meeting of representatives of the European Commission, chambers and employers’ associations who met to discuss the European Charter for Small Enterprises at the ministry.
Sioufas specified the measures would involve a major turn toward the funding of SMEs under European Union-subsidised investment programs, a reduction in the cost and time required for the licensing of manufacturing units, and the introduction of a new development framework.
The European Charter for Small Enterprises, approved by EU leaders in June 2000, calls upon member states and the Commission to take action to support and encourage SMEs in key areas.
