SMEs Offer Solutions to Many Problems Facing the V4

The key to boosting the competitiveness of Central Europe lies in digitalisation

27 January 2023

The V4 countries have a variety of specific attributes that allow businesses to thrive, especially SMEs which have struggled tremendously during and after the pandemic. However, for the region to become a hub for entrepreneurs and new enterprises, it needs to embrace modern solutions like digitalisation at much faster rate.

No one would say the last few years have been easy. Society is still contending with the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and increasing energy prices. The upcoming period will be a huge challenge, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

SMEs play an indispensable role in the economy of all European countries as they account for more than 50 per cent of GDP and employ almost 75 per cent of the active workforce. The pandemic and the increase of energy prices have hit SMEs severely, and thus, providing help to these businesses should be among the government’s top priorities.

The Future for Small and Medium Enterprises

The digitalisation of SMEs may not be among the top priorities of national governments, but it is undoubtedly one of the key priorities for the European Commission, which has set ambitious goals towards 2030 in this area.

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Lucia Colníková

Lucia Colníková is a Portfolio Manager and League for Digital Boost Lead at Slovak Alliance for Innovation Economy (SAPIE). Her responsibilities include leading projects on digitization from the research and managerial level and increasing external networks. She gained experiences through almost 10 years experience at GLOBSEC, where she was responsible for various projects, including coordination of the strategic agenda of the President, organizing events in Slovakia as well as abroad, communication with stakeholders across different sectors, coordination of the office in Banská Bystrica and several other areas related to the project and event management. Lucia has been involved in organizing conferences and workshops across Europe and in the US, such as GLOBSEC Forum, Tatra Summit, Riga Conference, events on the side-lines of the NATO Summit and more. She holds a master's degree in international relations at the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and has completed professional certificates of Google and MinnaLearn.

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