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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are essential drivers of job creation and inclusive economic growth worldwide. In the Mediterranean, North Africa and Middle East Region, SMEs represent the vast majority of firms, account for between half to three quarters of total employment, and contribute substantially to innovation and value creation. In addition, governments of the region have been working to build a more conducive business environment and have implemented targeted policies to support SME development.
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The report on the implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe in the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa 2014 provides an assessment of SME policy in Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, PA and Tunisia (the MED economies or the MED region), and a policy overview for Libya. The assessment was conducted in 2013 within the framework of the industrial co-operation process of the Union for the Mediterranean and is based on the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA). It builds on the methodology of the SME Policy Index, which allows international policy comparisons and the identification of good practices and areas where progress is needed. The report is an update of a similar exercise carried out in MED economies in 2008, based on the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Enterprise.
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Economies in the Mediterranean Middle East and North Africa (MED economies) are engaged in proactive policies to support SMEs. This is a relatively recent development and a significant shift from past policies that focused on supporting strategic enterprises and sectors. An important factor behind this shift has been the unrelenting pressure to generate more and better jobs: the region’s labour supply is rapidly expanding while new entrants to the labour market have higher education levels than those of previous generations. This certainly represents a major opportunity for development, but also a potential liability for social and political stability if that opportunity does not materialise.
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This report assesses the status of elaboration and implementation of SME policy in eight Middle East and North African economies of the southern Mediterranean shore and having association or co-operation agreements with the European Union. Those economies, henceforth the MED economies, are: Algeria, Egypt, Israel,1 Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, PA2 and Tunisia. The report also includes an SME policy profile for Libya, which is in the process of establishing a coherent strategy and institutions for SME development.
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The “Small Business Act” for Europe was adopted in 2008 with the aim to put in place a comprehensive SME policy framework for the EU and its member states. It aims to improve the overall approach to entrepreneurship, anchor the Think Small First principle in policy making from regulation to public service, and to promote SME growth by helping them tackle the problems which hamper their development.1 The term “Act” in the SBA is of a symbolic (rather than legal) character.
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The MED region is composed of a group of heterogeneous countries in terms of population, territory, resource endowment, and stage of economic and institutional development. The region’s young and increasingly educated population and its strategic geographic location at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and Asia, result in strong economic and trade potential.
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