Strategies of the Development of Entrepreneurship and SME

usiness is not approaching them often for solving problems in the respective sector and doesnot rely on their support and cooperation.In the last years, the corruption level in Bulgaria is comparable to the corruption level inCentral Europe. Despite the efforts of the Government, the civil society, the business and themass media, a large part of the society continues to believe that considerable results are notyet achieved in the anti-corruption practices. Very serious is the criticism of the EuropeanUnion in that respect. In the EU monitoring report dated 26 September 2006 a conclusion hasbeen made that despite the progress made in combating corruption the latter continues to be aproblem for the country.Among the other problems related to the business environment, the managers of SMEspointed out the tax system.3.3. ROMANIA3.3.1. SME SECTOR DEVELOPMENTRomania’s transition, starting in 1990, was in many respects more difficult than in theother countries of Central and Eastern Europe. This was partly because by the late 1980s, thecountry’s economy was on the verge of collapse after 40 years of rigid central planning thatemphasized self reliance, an excessive focus on heavy industry and large, uneconomicinfrastructure projects. Since 2000, the Government has implemented macroeconomic policieswhich are supportive of growth. Over the last years Romania has made significant progresstowards macro-economic stabilization; rates of economic growth achieved higher values,inflation and interest rates declined steadily, the fiscal deficit was brought under control,foreign exchange reserves increased to historic highs, and the external balance was held tocomfortable levels. Export growth remained vigorous, fuelled by private investment and theinitial competitive depreciation of the currency. The competitiveness of the enterprise sectorwas boosted by productivity gains.As a result of greater political and economic stability and of the implementation ofeconomic reforms, the investment climate has started to improve and international investorsare looking at the region with a much more positive attitude, seeing Romania as a possibilityfor increasing their trade on the regional market. The Romanian Government recognized andthe importance of the SME Sector as the basis for establishing and developing a modern,dynamic knowledge-based economy and supported its development through GovernmentalStrategy for Sustaining the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in 2004-2008.The priorities of the Romanian Government in support of SME development in the period 2004-2008 are:Priority A: Creating a business environment supportive to SME establishment anddevelopment through:• Improvement of the regulatory framework and elimination of administrative andtechnical barriers• Development of the institutional capacity of NASMEC• Improving the public - private dialogue with SME representative organisations and otherrelevant stake holders.Priority B: Developing SME competitiveness through:• Supporting innovation and improving the access of SMEs to new technologies• Supporting the introduction of quality standards and quality management systems• Promoting e-business40