Promotion of Innovation and Technology for small and medium sized enterprises in Near East

Project description

Title: Promotion of Innovation and Technology for small and medium sized enterprises in Near East
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Egypt, Jordan, Syria (project headquarters: Syria)
Lead executing agency: Ministries and other institutions from the member countries that are responsible for private sector development and innovation policy
Overall term: 2004 to 2010

Context

Most countries of the Near East can hardly keep pace with global economic development. Particularly small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) find it difficult to make the necessary adjustments in order to cope with increasing competition from imports and thus to provide employment and income possibilities. Further pressure for improved competitiveness will arise from the joint free trade zone with the European Union. At the same time, most of the countries of the region lack a systematic and coherent innovation policy especially directed to SMEs, although this would be a precondition to improve their competitiveness.

Objective

In order to improve the competitiveness of SMEs in the participating countries, the regional project supports the establishment of a network of selected member instituitons (from public authorities, industry, research and development) from the Near East and Germany (with a special focus on technology centers and universities of applied sciences) that shall contribute to the dissemination of information and best practices about innovation and technology. Additionally, selected network partners will be supported in promoting innovations and new technologies to SMEs through pilot applications.

Approach

The project strenghtens the capacities of selected actors on the meso-level in the framework of a regional network, so that these actors are able to provide SMEs with improved services (in innovation and technology consultancy), to plan and execute innovative projects and furthermore to contribute to the national, and eventually a regional, innovation policy. Moreover, the establishment of such a network strenghtens the South-South dialogue. The sectorial integration of German institutions facilitates the development of Arab-German partnerships that can have a positive impact in the private sector as well as in the area of research and development.

The innovation topics are especially oriented towards international trends like renewable energies and energy efficiency in order to let the member countries share in contemporary discussions and developments.