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Romania needs an innovation cluster for SMEs in every region, said Ovidiu Nicolescu, the president of the National Council of Small and Medium Enterprises of Romania (CNIPMMR).
He stressed that the implementation of such a measure would only cost a few million Euros, but the benefits for the development of creativity could be huge.
Furthermore, Ovidiu Nicolescu states that the intellectual capital that Romania has available should be evaluated, in order to be introduced in the public circuit. He added: "The development of the SME sector must rely on the creation of a business environment that is conducive to business. We don't need more strategies for SMEs, one is enough, as long as it is good. Unfortunately, SMEs are neglected in Romania and we are far from the European average in terms of the number of SMEs per thousand citizens".
According to the quoted source, CNIPMMR data shows that this year, only 19.9% of entrepreneurs think that the business sector is favorable, compared to 19.6% in 2013, while 43% are neutral, and approximately 37% says that the environment is favorable for business.
He emphasized that we need to rebuild the current business model and take concrete measures to increase the operational capabilities of SMEs. Ovidiu Nicolescu mentioned a series of measures that the CNIPMMR is proposing in the area of small and medium enterprises. According to him, a national public portal should be created, that would comprise every Romanian invention, innovation and patent, in order for them to be available at any time.
The IMM Orizont 2020 strategy, proposed by the minister of European funds is good, but what matters is for it to actually get implemented, Mr. Nicolescu also says.
Data presented by the president of the CNIPMMR shows that, this year, companies that have created new products have accounted for 40.2% of the total, a 10% increase over 2013. Furthermore, companies that have developed new technologies have accounted for 23% of the market, compared to 16% last year, according to Ovidiu Nicolescu.
He says that this data indicates a serious problem on the SME segment, because we don't know whether these entrepreneurs will successfully survive in the market.
The evolution of the sector of small and medium enterprises is focused on by survival, with a rising trend, said Ovidiu Nicolescu. According to him, some of the major problems that SMEs are faced with include difficulty in accessing financial resources, as loans are 2-3 times more expensive in Romania than in civilized countries and taking 2-3 months to be accessed.
The president of the CNIPMMR also told us that another obstacle that prevents the growth of small and medium companies is the intensification of foreign competition, as more than half of domestic SMEs are having trouble keeping their market share.
Bureaucracy and corruption are other problems that companies have to deal with. The number of payments that a company has to make to the state budget is 2-3 times higher than in other countries, which means more time and money being spent by companies.
"In this context, we can note the fact that companies don't pay particular attention to the training and innovation processes either, as less than 50% of Romanian companies invest heavily in the innovation process", according to Mr. Nicolescu.
He says that most companies are fighting for survival, and as a result, 20% of them plan to simplify their activity, about 60% want to keep at its current level, about 15-16% consider that it a downsizing of their activity is needed, and the remaining companies intend to close down.
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