The core of the political and economic transformation of any country in transition (CIT) is the creation of the private sector, the development of entrepreneurship and creation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). They are considered to be one of the principal driving forces in economic development. SMEs stimulate private ownership and entrepreneurial skills, they are flexible and can adapt quickly to changing market demand and supply situations, they generate employment, help diversify economic activity and make a significant contribution to exports and trade. SMEs also play an important role in innovation and the high-tech business, due to their flexibility and creativity many of them became large businesses. In this process emphasis should be laid on creation of a business friendly environment in which the transformation of the society towards a market economy should be taken place.
The present publication gives the characteristics of the SME sector in the CITs and emerging market economies, provides information on SME definition by countries, highlights the major legislative measures, laws, government decrees related to entrepreneurship and SMEs, summarizes the support measures that countries are doing to support SMEs, provides a SWOTanalyses of the SME sector in individual countries and finally presents the statistics collected from SME National Focal Points and other sources, like UNECE database, EBRD, etc.
The present publication gives the characteristics of the SME sector in the CITs and emerging market economies, provides information on SME definition by countries, highlights the major legislative measures, laws, government decrees related to entrepreneurship and SMEs, summarizes the support measures that countries are doing to support SMEs, provides a SWOTanalyses of the SME sector in individual countries and finally presents the statistics collected from SME National Focal Points and other sources, like UNECE database, EBRD, etc.
