Government and SME

Notes

Governments help companies in their country

This is often in the form of grants.

European Union

The European Union (EU) provides businesses within its area access to grants in a number of areas.

  1. Regional development

    Grants are available under the European Regional Development Fund to encourage development in certain European regions.

  2. Business support

    The European Investment Fund supports venture capital provision for SMEs in relation to innovation and job creation. 

    The Joint European Ventures Plan aims to stimulate joint ventures between European SMEs.

Australia

Australia's federal government and individual states and territories provide various grants and assistance.

Examples of federal assistance include:

  • Incentives to businesses that employ apprentices

  • Import duty concessions on imported materials

  • Taxation exemption for venture capital funds

  • Financial support of SMEs who export products in certain industrial sectors

USA

In the USA there are 26 federal agencies that provide a number of support programs.

The US Small Business Administration (SBA) provides loans, loan guarantees, contracts, counselling sessions and other forms of assistance to small businesses.

The Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program provides equity investment and long-term debt to high risk small businesses.

UK

The UK government has introduced a number of assistance schemes to help businesses, and several of these are designed to encourage lenders and investors to make finance available to small and unquoted businesses.

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