2 OECD CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (SMEs) PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATIVE SMEs IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY: TOWARDS A MORE RESPONSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE GLOBALISATION

Pursuant to Article 1 of the Convention signed in Paris on 14 th December 1960, and which came into force on 30 th September 1961, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) shall promote policies designed: To achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and employment and a rising standard of living in member countries, while maintaining financial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the world economy. To contribute to sound economic expansion in member as well as non-member countries in the process of economic development; and To contribute to the expansion of world trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis in accordance with international obligations. FOREWORD At the first OECD Conference of Ministers responsible for SMEs, hosted by the Italian government in Bologna, Italy, in June 2000, Ministers from nearly 50 member and non-member economies adopted the " Bologna Charter for SME Policies ". They envisaged the Bologna Conference as the start of a policy dialogue among OECD Member countries and non-Member economies and that it would be followed up by a continuous monitoring of progress with the implementation of the Bologna Charter. This dialogue and monitoring have become known as the " OECD Bologna Process ". The second OECD Conference of Ministers Responsible for SMEs, hosted by the Turkish Ministry for Industry and Trade, envisaged by Ministers at Bologna, provides an occasion to assess the impact on SMEs of new developments relating to globalisation. This report is one of ten background reports prepared for the Istanbul Ministerial Conference, the theme of each of the ten reports being linked to a specific Workshop of the Ministerial Conference. Several earlier versions of the report were reviewed by the Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship whose comments have been incorporated into the final version. Non member economies participating in the OECD Bologna Process have also had an opportunity to provide comments. This final report also sets out some policy messages and recommendations that have emerged from the preparatory work undertaken in the OECD Working Party for SMEs and Entrepreneurship. The wide variation in stages of economic development, institutional arrangements and political context across the economies participating in the Bologna Process, now more than 80, means that not all parts of specific policies and programmes are appropriate for all participants. The messages and recommendations outlined below provide material from which governments may choose to draw in promoting innovative SMEs in …