[Index]
Cooperation among SME Research and
Educational Centres of Central and East
European Universities
Inauguration of the Research
and Development Partnership Network
22 April 2005
Geneva, 20 April 2005 - At the
UNECE Forum on Best Practice in Good Governance
for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
(SMEs) held on 1-2 April 2004 at the Palais
des Nations, Geneva, the Hungarian Delegation
proposed the establishment of a cooperation
network amongst the Colleges and Universities
in Central and Eastern Europe dealing
with entrepreneurship and SME research
and education. On 22 April 2005, one year
later, this new initiative was launched.
So far, 21 institutions of higher learning
have joined this research and development
partnership network, encompassing the
following countries: Austria, Croatia,
Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Serbia and Montenegro and Ukraine. The
UNECE and its Regional Advisory Service
Programme in the field of entrepreneurship
and SMEs were instrumental in the establishment
of this network.
Prof. Péter Szirmai,
Director of the Small Business Development
Centre at Budapest Corvinus University,
emphasized that “The signatories
of the declaration on cooperation accepted
that education plays a significant
role in the development of entrepreneurship
and that research and education
could ultimately contribute to closing
the gap in entrepreneurship between countries
of Central and Eastern Europe and those
in Western Europe and North America.”
He went on to say that “Taking advantage
of international experience based on research
of issues, such as good governance, enterprise-friendly
economic and social policies, administrative
burden and the financial environment,
can speed up the growth of entrepreneurship
in Central and Eastern Europe to rival
that in western countries.”
The Research and Development
Partnership (RDP) is intended to be an
open-ended network, to further cooperation
among the institutions in this area, to
undertake specific cooperative projects,
and to, broadly speaking, contribute to
the common “intellectual capital”
in this field.
The Inauguration Meeting
of the Research and Development Partnership
will take place on 22 April 2005 at Budapest
Corvinus University in Hungary. In addition
to the participating RDP institutions,
representatives from the UNECE and the
Central European Innovation Area Network
project will also take part.
For further information, please contact:
Mr. Antal Szabó
Regional Adviser on Entrepreneurship
and SMEs
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe
Palais des Nations, Bureau 440
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: + 41(0) 22 917 2471
Telefax: + 41(0) 22 917 0178
E-mail: [email protected]
Ref: ECE/IREEDD/05/P02