SME and Entrepreneurship Policies and Programmes in Poland

Poland offers comprehensive support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship, but improvements can be made in a number of areas. The regulatory and administrative environment for entrepreneurs and SMEs can be further simplified loan guarantees and loan funds strengthened and rationalised the use of equity promoted and new activities introduced to improve the skills of SME managers and employees. SME innovation can be promoted through an incubator policy, simplified intellectual property rules and cluster building, and government and large firm procurement can be influenced to improve SME access to markets. More understanding is needed on opportunities and barriers to entrepreneurship by under-represented groups including women, unemployed people, people with disabilities and young people. Entrepreneurial attitudes and culture should also be strengthened. A further serious challenge is to clarify the overall policy support structure. There is no explicit policy framework for SMEs or entrepreneurship in Poland, leaving relevant policies embedded in the activities of several ministries and scattered across many operational programmes and organisations. The result is an absence of overall design and coherence, and excessive complexity, lack of clarity, fragmented initiatives and lack of critical mass.