SMEs play a major role in German economy

SMEs, the backbone of the German economy is supported by the business federations to cope with challenges and changes of globalisation, said the German Ambassador in Sri Lanka Jens Uwe Plotner. He was speaking on the theme ''Small and Medium Enterprises in Germany'. The Ambassador who was the guest speaker at the Key Persons Forum organised by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Sri Lanka, said that "there was red tape in Germany too and, therefore, powerful agencies are needed to champion the causes of SMEs as they are vulnerable to crippling regulations and feel the effects immediately".

SMEs in Germany provide 65 percent of the jobs and 83 percent of the vocational training. Therefore, all the training for the big companies are provided by the SMEs.

He said that 99 percent of exports are produced by the SME sector.

Ambassador Plotner said that SMEs in Germany as in all other countries are home grown, regionally rooted, innovative and family owned, Since the employees are from the vicinity the loyalty towards the company is high and corporate social responsibility (CSR) which is the fashion today is a normal phenomena for SMEs. As the companies are family owned the management hierarchy is flat with low overhead costs.

Outlining the classification of SMEs in Germany, he said that all companies with less than 500 employees are classified as SMEs.

Ambassador Plotner said that Sri Lanka has the issue of GSP plus which is difficult and politically challenging but Sri Lanka as a country of the European Union is extremely satisfied with the high level delegation assigned to hold discussions with the EU. Though I am not in a position to announce the outcome. The final round of talks were serious said the ambassador.

He said that apart from the GSP, the talks were beneficial and it would help improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

"Let us concentrate on new avenues and opportunities", he said. SG