| The OECD Ministerial Conference on SMEs, Istanbul 2004 The Istanbul Conference was the second OECD Ministerial Conference on SMEs and Globalisation that took place on June 4-5, 2004 in order to take forward the Bologna Process. The event was jointly organised by the OECD through the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) and the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Trade through KOSGEB. 87 countries were invited to participate in the conference. Among them, 30 are OECD countries and 57 non-OECD. At the end of the Ministerial Conference a final declaration was released, where Ministers reaffirm the need to support the development of the best set of public policies that foster the creation and rapid growth of innovative SMEs. At page 2 of the Declaration, a reference to INSME is made. A Business Forum on "SMEs: Innovation, Technology & ICTs" took place during the days preceding the Ministerial Conference. It outlined conclusions provided to ministers for discussion. The Business Forum comprised two events: a Business Symposium (3 June 2004) and a Global Marketplace (2 to 6 June 2004). The subject of both events was focused and limited to the topics of new technologies, innovation and ICTs. A website dedicated to the Istanbul Ministerial Conference is available for further information at http://www.oecd-istanbul.sme2004.org. Dr. Serge Golovanov, General Manager of GOLEM IMS GMBH and UNIDO International consultant and the Member of Austrian Delegation for the Conference was invited as speaker to contribute to discussions which took place in The Business Symposium "SMEs Competing in a Knowledge Economy". The Business Symposium offered business organisations and individual firms (both small and large) the opportunity to strengthen their co-operation at international level and to influence government policies and the international agenda for SMEs. The Symposium was attended by Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of SMEs and large firms, representatives of federations of entrepreneurs at the national and supranational level, providers of SME financing (e.g. banks, financial institutions) and agencies providing business services for the globalisation of SMEs. Representatives of international organisations were also invited to participate in the Business Symposium. The presentation of Dr. S.Golovanov “Recognition of Knowledge Capital in Knowledge Economy: The price of ignorance” was focused on issues of losses occurring due to lack of know-how, managerial skills, effective ICT tools for performance management and various inefficiencies common to majority of enterprises in different countries. Taking the latest results of the training programmes implemented in UK and Colombia he estimated the loss in magnitude of 10%-25% of annual company gross profits depending of company size, life history and education of management. Most of the SME entrepreneurs are not aware of these loses and relevant actual figures and the level of potential improvements based only on use of internally available resources. The conclusions outlined in the presentation were as follows: 1. The Knowledge Economy shall incorporate the practices and costs of SME training as its default component to develop Knowledge Capital, improve sustainability and competitiveness. The training of SME entrepreneurs in productivity, quality and performance management shall become the default component of any national policy implemented by governments. 2. OECD may and shall take initiative in setting up recommendations on training Programme Standards following COTE definitions including measurement of efficiencies and results. The developing of standards defining the content, quality and implementation measurement of such training would avoiding growing reservations of entrepreneurs toward content and efficiency of service providers at the national and international levels. Overview of the events in detail and photo gallery: www.insme.com
 
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