I brought home some valuable lessons I would like to share with you Good morning, Thanks to all 45 high-level speakers, to the Bulgarian SME Promotion Agency, to the Bulgarian Development Bank, and to hundreds of online attendants, the INSME Annual Meeting has been an excellent opportunity to learn and exchange ideas on how to better support SMEs in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis. I brought home some valuable lessons I would like to share with you: 1. We learned that Business Support Organisations play a crucial role in tackling the post Covid recovery by advocating for SME needs and challenges and by helping policymakers lay out "mission-oriented" innovation policies. 2. The needs of entrepreneurs go beyond mere financial assistance, SMEs not only lack access to finance, but also skilled human capital, as a result of a mismatch between what they require and what the job market has to offer. 3. The core ingredients for a positive political and economic transformation of Southeast Europe are the creation of a strong private sector and of a solid entrepreneurial ecosystem, goals that can only be achieved through the work of SME development agencies. 4. In the transition toward digitalisation and sustainability, SMEs and innovation are key factors to face long-term challenges, to secure green growth, to drive the recovery and internationalisation. Looking at the Network, there are also some important updates worth highlighting: * The new INSME Vice-presidents Maurizio Casasco, President of CONFAPI, the Italian Confederation of SMEs, and European Entrepreneurs CEA-PME, and Markus Jerger, Executive Director of BVMW - The German Association for Small and Medium-sized business, who combined represent millions of SMEs in Europe, together with the reconfirmed VPs Andrea Di Anselmo of META Group, and Raimund Broechler of INTRASOFT International, they will guarantee under the leadership of President Sergio Arzeni a clear vision and strategy . * The new Board members Aurora Candel, Boyko Takov, Patrick Meinhardt and Roberto Santolamazza will reinforce the Board and expand INSME’s global reach. The General Assembly has also confirmed my appointment as Secretary General for another term, for which I am honoured, and intend to fulfil this role to the best of my ability. * New energy has been brought by the new Members who joined our ranks in 2021, namely Enterprise Greece, ESD, the Lebanese Development Network, and Prishtina Rea and by new strategic partnerships with EUIPO - European Union Intellectual Property Office, DevelopmentAid, Algeria Venture, The Union of Arab Banks, and with the Montreal Group. * Energy that we will need to carry out new projects such as RaDAR with AQuAS, a conference with the SME Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the training on internationalization for Bulgarian SMEs which we have selected and met in Sofia, the training on sustainable finance and social entrepreneurship for Lebanese companies, and much more to do in 2022! Finally, and most importantly, it became clear that there is more than ever a great need for dialogue, multilateralism, international cooperation, and exchange of knowledge and best practices, which is what INSME is called to do with the help and support of all its Members. Goodbye Sofia and best wishes! Giovanni Giovanni Zazzerini Secretary General INSME - The International Network for SMEs zazzerini@insme.org (mailto:zazzerini@insme.org) · Tel: +390668806803 Mobile and WhatsApp: +393472488068 LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovannizazzerini/) · INSME.org (http://www.insme.org) ============================================================ Want to change how you receive these emails? You can ** update your preferences (https://insme.us16.list-manage.com/profile?u=47a0f24f628e4b7ec96b2f720&id=898be7f0ce&e=2d8317fc53&c=15f82a4d48) or ** unsubscribe from this list (https://insme.us16.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=47a0f24f628e4b7ec96b2f720&id=898be7f0ce&e=2d8317fc53&c=15f82a4d48) .