SME Policy

The Working Group on SME Policy, Entrepreneurship and Human Capital Development was launched following the MENA-OECD Investment Programme High-Level Meeting in October 2008. This working group aims to engage partners in regional dialogue and peer review on issues specifically pertaining to SME growth and development.

The creation of this working group is particularly relevant in the current global economic environment where SMEs are regarded as the backbone of our economies as means to generate growth, innovation and employment.

The key activities of the working group are:

• promoting high-growth enterprises
• improving access to finance for SMEs
• supporting enterprise development with business law
• fostering entrepreneurship and bridging the skills gap through human capital development

Participants include policy makers from institutions in charge of enterprise policy, such as ministries of industry and economy, and SME development, and investment promotion agencies; members of private enterprise and the financial sector; international organisations and the donor community.

• Paris, 26 October 2009: Fostering entrepreneurship and enhancing access to finance
• Barcelona, 19 May 2009: Financing Growth in the MENA Region
• Manama, 18-19 November 2008: Fostering entrepreneurship through proactive policies