SME Assembly 2022 – Day 2

In his speech, the commissioner emphasized that although we’re facing challenging times, he is hopeful. As we faced earlier crises together, we can also face this & future ones.

 

Mr. Breton also introduced the SME Relief Package, which was announced by the President of the European Commission, which will focus on three main areas: combatting late payments, better regulations and access to finance.

Commissioner Breton reassured that “SMEs are the beating heart of our Single Market economy”.

 

The Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, Mr. Jozef Sikela, followed with his speech and highlighted the importance of working together on advancing the strategic resilience of the European economy, especially during challenging times.

 

The president of SMEUnited Petri Salminen took the stage to share his views on the world of business: “at this brutal time, we must guarantee the preservation of our economy, the backbone of Europe; the SMEs”, he said.

 

The official opening was followed by a series of simultaneous panel discussions, policy workshops and masterclasses on a range of topics.

Participants in the “Sustainable Enterprise” Panel discussed rewriting the rules with a view to replacing endless growth with regenerative and distributive economies.

The session No Net Zero without SMEs marks the launch of DG ENER’s new pilot initiative, the EU Covenant of Companies for Climate and Energy, which aims to encourage and support companies, particularly SMEs, to step up their contribution to a clean energy transition.

In the SME Assembly 2022 the session for the Digital transformation of SMEs included discussions and recommendations to help SMEs realise the full potential of digitalization.

 

After a networking coffee break, the Assembly restarted with a participatory session we revisited the Stories of Success: 33 Under 33. Kosima Kovar, Marzio Schena, Evi Oivanen and Marc Rovira shared how Young Entrepreneurs face the challenges of today.

More sessions came for a full day at the SME Assembly, where participants attended: EEPA Session was Supporting the Sustainable Transition and the session “The new normal” about how the SMEs have to be agile & adaptable to face uncertain times and big changes.

At SME Assembly 2022, there is an EXPO which showcases some of the best and most innovative projects from Czech businesses.

Other sessions in the afternoon included a panel on The Supply chain security that session rased questions about the impact of the Russian aggression against Ukrain and geographical crises on SMEs. How have the European supply chains been affected by it? And how can we ensure future stability?

The session for the Innovation procurement (European Innovation Council) and Aerospace Technology & Data: Opportunities for SMEs also took place.

How to engage with and deliver to the supply chains creating new technologies was also discussed on the session Circular Economy: Strengthening the Resilience of the EU Economy, followed by the session regarding Mentoring Momentum: Fostering Female Entrepreneurship and SME Test Project: Key Findings.

 

This evening, we celebrated the 10th edition of the European Small and Mid-Cap Awards, organised by the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), EuropeanIssuers and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs during the SME Assembly in Prague (Czechia).

The final event on Day 2 was the European Commission reveals winners of European Enterprise Promotion Awards – EEPA. Congratulations to the winners from: Belgium, Poland, The Netherlands, Ukraine, Greece and France. Please read the full review of the winners clicking here.

 

What’s in store for Day 3? Follow the live streaming or take a look at the live coverage on Twitter via @EEPA_EU. Remember to use #SMEAssembly2022 to be featured on the feed and check out the all the photos on Flickr! Haven’t registered yet? Last minute registrations are still possible but be quick! You can register here.