ENHANCING THE ROLE OF SMEs IN GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS

WASME participation in OECD Conference in Tokyo

On recommendation of the WASME Repesentative Office in Vienna, the Deputy Commercial Counsellor at the Austrian Embassy in Tokyo, Mag. Martina Kotz, participated as WASME Delegate in the OECD Global Conference in Tokyo from 31 May – 1 June 2007 on „Enhancing the Role of SMEs in Global Value Chains.
The background of the Conference was based on a study carried out by the OECD Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship (WPSMEE), where the issue is addressed of how globalisation of value chains affect the role of SMEs as traditional partners or distributors for large firms.
Rohit K.Shukla, CEO of US based Larta Institute (www.larta.org) submitted a comprehensive report on „The Challenge and Opportunity of Innovation". His conclusion: „The new imperative for SME’s in the new global world of „Distributed competence”, (i.e. the notion that pent-up capacity and capability in many areas around the world are now more available, initially at lower cost, but with increasing competence as these capacities are used and absorbed by users.), is to seek to establish local presence either directly or through a strategic partnership with other SME’s in markets important to the growth of the specific sets of components, products, services or offerings being provided. Continued innovation, said Mr. Shukla, the push to improve existing products, introduce new ones, refine the underlying process, provide an entirely new process, all of this either in quantum leaps or incremental steps must become an intrinsic part of the enterprise of the SME.
While WASME encourages SME Member Organisations to enhance SME’s efforts to benefit from such one-off approaches, the SME World Association shares the opinion of Mr. Shukla that the underlying potential of SME’s, particularly in developing Countries and those in transition, as a whole remains unfulfilled and unexploited in all of their richness. Global innovation, often associated with smaller nimble operators, is still a challenge of the future.
In his message to WASME Member Organisations world wide, Norbert W. Knoll-Dornhoff re-iterated his recommendation to inform dynamic, fast growing young SME’s which are on the way to internationalisation about the possibilities to raise risk capital for their projects on the new SME- oriented stock markets in London (Alternative Investment Market), Frankfurt (Entry Standard) and Vienna (Mid Market) for smaller money placements. WASME Sponsors would pre-finance the cost for such Initial Public Offerings for Companies which qualify. An information summit for interested Companies will be held in Vienna mid of November 2007.

Permanent Mission WASME World Association of Small and Medium Enterprises to UNIDO
Bujattigasse 13, 1140 Vienna, Austria
Contact: Dr. Norbert W. Knoll-Dornhoff, Permanent Representative WASME
Komm.-Rätin Susanne Forstinger (CEO HELVETIA INTERNATIONAL), Permanent Representative WASME to UNIDO
Office for Hungary:
Garas utca 22, 1026 Budapest, Hungary
Ph.: +361-315 10 59
mailto: wasme-vienna@lycos.de

WASME is an International Civil Society Organization in consultative satus with various UN Organization, e.g. the UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Vienna. WASME is globally in service of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

This release was published on openPR.