Do not miss the upcoming 3-day Annual Conference of the INSME Association, now gathering 80 Members from 26 Countries!

2-4 July, 2008

"ENCOURAGING SME INNOVATION AND GROWTH:
INCREASING CAPITAL ACCESS"

Guangzhou (Canton), P.R. China

 Draft Agenda                  Brochure


No participation fee is foreseen for INSME Members, invited speakers, representatives from Chinese private and public bodies and International Governmental Organisations.

To participate, please register in due time:
 If you are an INSME Association Member (participation for free)
 Registration for Non Members (participation for a fee)

 More about the IV Annual Meeting of the INSME Association

For enquiries, please contact the INSME Secretariat:
 insme2008@insme.it
Tel.: +39 06 80972466/484
Fax: +39 06 80972443

Organisations from 19 Countries have already confirmed their participation at the Conference:
Belgium, Cameroon, India, Italy, France, Kingdom of Bahrain, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, People's Republic of China, Republic of South Korea, Romania, Sweden,  Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates.

Find out the main outputs of the INSME Network between mid 2004 - 2008:
 INSME Flyer

SIDEREUS is an international  project coordinated by Filas (INSME Member from Italy), the Regional Development Agency of the Lazio Region, and is co-financed by the European Commission through the Asia Invest Programme.


SIDEREUS will organize a major matchmaking event that, over a period of 18 months, will involve no less than 140 European SMEs (35 for each of the EU partner regions) and 160 Asian SMEs (China 90, India 50, ASEAN Countries 20) operating in the Aerospace and ICT sectors. This event, that will be held in Beijing, P.R. China, on November 26-28, 2008, aims to increase economic cooperation and simplify the creation of transnational partnerships between European and Southeast Asian enterprises.

SIDEREUS is open to participants from China, India and ASEAN countries on the Asian side and from EU countries with priority to Italy, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom. A thematic workshop will be held on July 3 in Canton on the occasion of the IV INSME Annual Meeting.

To register for the SIDEREUS event in Beijing :
 http://www.sidereus-project.org

For further information:
 http://www.sidereus-project.org
 or http://www.filas.it/

Contact
Laura Santarelli, Project Manager (Italy)
 santarelli@filas.it
Tel.: +39 06.3288.5309
 
 

On 25 June 2008 the European Commission adopted the Small Business Act for Europe, whose main aim is to set principles and concrete measures to improve the framework conditions for European SMEs, while taking full account of their diversity. The SBA also aims at involving SMEs in decisions which EU will take to enhance SME growth and development. 

Read the Commission Communication:
 Think Small First - A "Small Business Act" for Europe

For further information on the results of the open consultation for the SBA also read: 
 SBA Consultation Final Report
 SBA Consultation Statistics

The European Commission aims to enhance the partnership with its Mediterranean members through the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean to give renewed vitality and visibility to the EU's relations with the Mediterranean region.


The EU proposals include the setting up of a Secretariat and the creation of a permanent committee of Euro-Mediterranean representatives. The proposals contained in the last Communication issued in late May will be presented at the inaugural Summit of the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean to take place in Paris on 13 July 2008 under the French Presidency of the EU.

Read the press release at:
 http://europa.eu/

Read the Communication at:
 http://www.semide.net

The last EU Competitiveness Council, held in Brussels on 29-30 May, 2008, adopted a resolution and conclusions on several important issues related to research and intellectual property (IP).


In particular, the Council invited the Commission and the Member States to cooperate for the implementation of the Recommendation on the management of IP in knowledge transfer activities and for the improvement of working conditions for researchers and scientists in the EU.

Read the press release at:
 http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ 

 

TUSDEC (Technology Upgradation and Skill Development Company) was established by Pakistan's Ministry of Industries and Production with a clear charter to upgrade technology and skills of important industrial sectors and thus foster economic growth.

TUSDEC is a not-for-profit company, wholly owned by Government of Pakistan but managed by the private sector. It has been a Member of INSME since March 2008.

TUSDEC focuses on:

• Implementing projects to uplift those industrial sectors and clusters that have been deprived of modern technology and are unable to compete against imports or gain a share of export markets.
   
• TUSDEC interventions are based on need assessment surveys which then allow close interface with relevant stakeholders to design and implement technology upgradation and skill development projects.
   
• TUSDEC also engages in National level technology management activities, such as technology planning, technology demand survey, technology forecasting, dissemination, etc.
   
• Partnerships with international development agencies, recognized technical and vocational Institutes, educational and scientific bodies and certification agencies help in achieving our development goals.  

Find out more about TUSDEC and its initiatives:
 http://www.tusdec.org.pk

The European Commission, EuropeAid Cooperation Office (EC) has published the IV Call for proposals AL-INVEST. This Call is aimed at fostering the consolidation and internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Latin America.

AL-Invest is an economic co-operation programme that supports collaboration between SMEs in Latin America and their European partners in order to contribute to reinforce economic and social cohesion in the region.

The deadline for submission of abstracts is 25 July 2008.

Reference: EuropeAid/127035/C/ACT/RAL.

Maximum indicative budget: 10,000,000 �

 See the Call for Proposals page for full details

VALOR, an INNO-Net project of the European PRO INNO Europe initiative under the EU VI Framework Programme for R&TD, has launched a call for proposals to support newly established as well as existing SMEs in their efforts to commercialise innovation at European level.

Specific support to various activities in the innovation process is offered.
This transnational call is designed for SMEs, start-ups, spin-offs, universities, academic research organisms, technical centres, or individuals, provided that they also meet the eligibility criteria for programmes held or managed by the various European technology implementation agencies currently involved in the VALOR call.

Contact the VALOR Contact Point in your Country (Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom), as indicated on page 13 of :
 http://www.proinno-europe.eu/pdf

Closing date for submitting full proposals: 01 August 2008.

For further information: Select "VALOR Call for Proposals 2008" in the left-hand menu on:
 http://www.proinno-europe.eu

INNET is a project funded within the PRO INNO Europe initiative under the EU VI Framework Programme for R&TD and aims at promoting interaction and cooperation between regional, national and European funding schemes, to facilitate cross-border cooperation for SMEs in technology clusters and to strengthen the activities of SMEs in broad technology.

INNET has recently launched Innovation Express, its first pilot call for proposals that will fund a set of innovation support activities to initiate, develop or enhance technological cooperation among European clusters for the benefit of their SME members.

Proposals must be submitted by governing structures of clusters in cooperation with SMEs belonging to the cluster. All sectors of activity are eligible.

Funding will be allocated according to each INNET partner organisation's national/regional programme. Countries participating in the project are: Belgium (Flanders), France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain and UK. Applicants are invited to contact their regional/national contact points for eligibility check and assistance.

Deadline for proposals submission: end 2008

For further information: 

 
 Innovation Express Call for Proposals

 Innovation Express call flyer

 http://www.proinno-europe.eu/INNET

 

Issuer: Arab Science and Technology Foundation (ASTF)

Title: "Conference of Incubation and Technology Park for Economic Growth"

Aim: strengthening relations and exchange experience of incubation programs and technology parks in the Arab world, discussing important issues related to the management of incubators and technology parks, proposing solutions to maximize technological innovation within the Arab World.

Deadline for Paper Submission: 10 September 2008.

Read more about the call at :
 http://www.astf.net 

The EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) has launched its 2008 EFMD Case Writing Competition with Awards of 2,000 Euros that will be made for case winners in 10 different categories including two new categories this year: Indian Management Issues and Opportunities and African Business Cases. This competition aims to encourage the writing of case material involving companies and institutions in Europe, North America and beyond as well as material dealing with topics concerning other geographical areas such as the Asian and African continents.

Case submission deadline: 31 July 2008.

For further information about evaluation criteria and conditions for participation:
 http://www.efmd.org/attachments/pdf

The European Network Innovating Regions in Europe (IRE) has recently published on its portal the presentations made during its thematic training session on Innovation policy design, implementation and evaluation held in Madrid last 18-19 April 2008. The training was aimed at enhancing the professional capacities and knowledge of regional staff working in the field of innovation policy.

The presentations are available for free at:
 http://www.innovating-regions.org

 

Co-published by World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC), Doing Business Report 2008 is the fifth in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. In particular, it identifies countries where to do business, from the easiest to the most difficult places, through indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights.


This year, Doing Business studied obstacles to equal opportunity underlying how greater regulatory reform has especially large benefits for women.

Order a copy of Doing Business Report 2008 on:

 http://publications.worldbank.org 
 
 

SMEs keep local - go international: Opportunities for transnational research is a free publication released by the EU which illustrates some of the most important initiatives to help SMEs find opportunities to access transnational research. In addition to the Community Seventh Framework Programme for research (FP7), which is the main source of funding for transnational research projects,  the booklet presents new additional opportunities now being developed through the coordination of national and regional funding programmes. This will help SMEs to access transnational research via their established national and regional partner agencies.

Download the full publication at:
  http://ec.europa.eu/research/sme-techweb/pdf 
 
 

Within the EuroMed Market Programme, supported by the EU, the European Centre for the Regions (EIPA) has carried out the study on Competition policy in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership provides a critical assessment of the efforts made by the EC to stimulate the development of competition laws in the Mediterranean countries engaged in partnership agreements with the EU. In particular, it describes the implementation and enforcement of competition rules in 10 Mediterranean Partners: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.

Click on the Access to studies button to download the study at:
 http://www.euromedmarket.org 

Developed by the European Commission's Directorate General (DG) for Enterprise and Industry, in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Enterprise Finance Index (EFI) is a website aimed at providing an helpful tool to find relevant data, figures and other information on the development of SME finance in EU Member States. Among the EU financial instruments, this site focuses on the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP 2007-2013) tools for innovative SMEs and in general gives a survey on some specific difficulties, such as the access to seed capital for new innovative enterprises.

The principal figures analysed are Venture Capital, Loans, Guarantees, Business Angel Finance and Capacity Building as well as the policy progress in order to overcome the shortcoming in financing access for SME in different European Countries.

For further information please visit the website:
 http://ec.europa.eu

The Medibtikar Newsletter, the main information tool of the Medibtikar Programme (EuroMed Innovation and Technology Programme) provides an important source of information on what is happening in the MEDA Region and in Europe in the domain of innovation. In particular, the Medibtikar newsletter focuses on the presentation of the Programme's activities, including current and future events, across the MEDA Regions in order to implement the innovation in this area and its visibility towards the EU and its Mediterranean neighbours.

Read the latest issue at:
 http://www.medibtikar.eu/IMG/pdf/Medibtikar_Newsletter_May2008_FinalVersion.pdf

To subscribe for free, please refer to:
 http://www.medibtikar.eu/Innovation-Relay-Center-Network.html

Learn more about Meditbitkar (2007-2009) at:
 http://www.medibtikar.eu/spip.php

23-27 June 2008
The UNIDO Pharos Training Workshop: "Management of Change in Industrial Enterprise with UNIDO Pharos Software Suite"
Organised by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and GOLEM IMS GMBH (INSME Member).
Vienna, Austria

25 June 2008
KIS4SAT�Public Workshop
Organised by EBN
Budapest, Hungary

25 June 2008
Intellectual Property for Innovation Training Seminar: Commercialization and IP Rights
Organised by the European BIC Network (EBN).
Budapest, Hungary 

26-27 June 2008
EASY Investment Forum
Organised in cooperation with the GLE Growth Capital and the NESTA Making Innovation Flourish.
London, UK

27 June 2008
EU Finance Day for SMEs
Organised by the European Commission - Enterprise and Industry & Economic and Financial Affairs.
Warsaw, Poland

1-2 July 2008
Invest in Med Project Kick off Event
Organised by ANIMA Investment Network (INSME Member).
Marseille, France

2-4 July 2008

Co-organised by the INSME Association and the Administration Center of Innovation Fund for Technology-based SMEs (Torch High Technology Industry Development Center, Chinese Ministry of Science & Technology).
Guangzhou (Canton), P.R. China

3-4 July 2008
The Company, Engine of the Mediterranean
Organised MEDEF / UMCE with participation of ANIMA.
Marseille, France

3-4 July 2008
SME - ENTREPRENEURSHIP GLOBAL CONFERENCE 2008: Creating Sustainable Entrepreneurship Eco-system and High Performance SMEs"
Organised by Monash University.
Victoria, Australia 

4 July 2008
Valorisation of Intellectual Property
Organised by ProTon Europe.
Brussels, Belgium

18-22 July 2008
ESOF2008 - Euroscience Open Forum
Organised by Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF).
Barcelona, Spain 

2-3 August 2008
2nd ABAC SME Summit
Organised by APEC Business Advisory Council in cooperation with Alibaba (INSME partner).
Hangzhou, China 

3-12 August 2008
International course on SMEs in the Era of Globalization - Preparing SMEs for Involvement in the International Trade"
Organised by Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED), INCEP-SME (International Center for the Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises) and the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute (IEICI).
Beer Sheva, Israel  Application Form (159 kb)

10-16 August 2008
CASIN's Fostering Entrepreneurship & Leadership seminar
Organised by Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations (CASIN) in partnership with the Leading Global Business School (IMD).
Geneva, Switzerland 

12-14 August 2008
19th WAITRO Biennial Congress
Organised by the World Association of Industrial and Technological Research Organizations (WAITRO).
Seri Kembangan, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia 

3-5 September 2008
4th FEE Annual European SME/SMP Congress on "Think Ahead on Small and Mid-Sized Business opportunities and tools for the Accountancy Profession"
Organised by the Federation of European Accountants (FEE) in association with the Nordic Federation of Accountants (NRF).
Copenhagen, Denmark 

3-4 September 2008
Conference on Patent Statistics for Decision Makers Patenting, Innovation, Valuation
Organised by the European Patent Office.
Vienna, Austria 

6-11 September 2008
AIPPI 41st World Intellectual Property Congress
Organised by AIPPI's (the Association Internationale pour la Protection de la Propriété Intellectuelle).
Boston, USA 

8-17 September 2008
The Promise and Limitations of Microfinance Institutions as a Major Tool in Developing SMEs International course
Organised by Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development (NISPED) in collaboration with Israel SME Authority (ISMEA).
Beer Sheva, Israel 

9-12 September 2008
European Entrepreneurship in the Globalising Economy - "Challenges and Opportunities"
Varna, Bulgaria

10-12 September 2008
2008 EUNIP International Conference: Competitiveness, Territory and Industrial Policy
Organised by Orkestra (The Institute of Kompetitiveness + Development) and ESTE (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Deusto).
San Sebasti�n, Spain 

14-17 September 2008
XXV IASP World Conference 2008
The role of Science Parks in accelerating knowledge economy growth - contrasts between emerging and more developed economies.
Johannesburg, South Africa

15-16 September 2008
WIPO-ICC Intellectual Property Training Workshop for Chambers of Commerce And Other Business Support Organizations
Organised by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Geneva, Switzerland

8-10 October 2008
Inter-American Development Bank Annual event 11th Microenterprise Forum
Organized by the Inter-American Development Bank's Multilateral Investment Fund.
Asuncion, Paraguay

28-30 October 2008
5th Congress of Scientific Research Outlook in the Arab World - "Scientific Innovation and Sustained Development"
Organised by Arab Science & Technology Foundation (ASTF) in Collaboration and Support of Academy of Hassan II of Science and Technology-Morocco and the Ministry of National and Higher Education-Morocco.
Fez - Morocco

4-6 November 2008
35th International Small Business Congress - "An Entrepreneurial Odyssey - from local heroes to global champions"
Organised by the International Small Business Congress (ISBC) in collaboration with the Institute for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (ISBE).
Belfast, Northern Ireland