Building Resilience: SMEs Navigating Supply Chain Challenges in Turbulent Times
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing unprecedented challenges as global supply chains become increasingly vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, conflicts, and disruptions. A recent webinar hosted by Heriot-Watt University explored how SMEs can ad...
World Food Forum 2025 celebrates FAO’s 80th anniversary
The 2025 edition of the World Food Forum (WFF) flagship event kicked off on October 13 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome. The week-long Forum features the scheduled participation of 10 head...
The Green Transition of SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Portugal
At the end of September was published a project funded by the European Union and implemented by the OECD. It provides an assessment of Portugal’s policies to support the green transition of SMEs and green entrepreneurship, as well as of the progress of ...
SMEs’ challenges and business environment_news from Eurobarometer 559
In July 2025, a survey conducted by Ipsos European Public Affairs at the request of the European Commission was published. It gathers insights from over 17,000 companies, including 13,000 in the EU-27 (of these, 5% identified as start-ups and 18% as scale...
Three takeaways for businesses from the International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4)
As the global financial sector wrapped up the International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Seville, Spain, earlier this month, the stakes and the opportunities have never been higher. From mounting global crises to an ever-widening SDG ...
MSMEs Day 2025: Enhancing the role of Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) as drivers of Sustainable Growth and Innovation
MSME Day 2025 comes at a pivotal moment—just ahead of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) in Sevilla and the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha—amid shifts in the global trading landscape. It off...
SME Performance Review: the Annual Report on European SMEs 2024/2025
Despite ongoing economic headwinds and geopolitical uncertainties, Europe’s 26.1 million SMEs continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience and adaptability. While SME real value added declined slightly in 2024 by -0.2%, the outlook for 2025 is notably ...
How small businesses can navigate global trade in an era of polycrisis
Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises represent the vast majority of businesses worldwide and are vital to global employment, yet they face significant barriers to participating in international trade. These include limited access to finance, burdens...
Equipping SMEs with the skills to navigate the twin transition
SMEs and entrepreneurs heavily depend on skills to stay competitive and face greater challenges than larger firms in accessing and retaining skilled labour. Against the background of tight labour markets, skills gaps for SMEs are being exacerbated by the ...
The future of entrepreneurship with AI
AI-native startups are redefining the nature of entrepreneurship through accelerated scaling. With leaner teams, evolving funding dynamics, and intense competition for talent, the global startup ecosystem has reached an inflexion point. Policy-makers, inv...
