SMEs and Family Businesses
Roughly 98 percent of the industrial enterprises the BDI represents are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) companies. It is their employees, their investments and their technological progress that shape the future of the German economy. That is why the BDI is working to raise public awareness of the issues that are important to the »Mittelstand« or SMEs and family enterprises in Germany.
Solid economic activity and long-term thinking have produced so-called »hidden champions« among industrial SMEs. They play a leading role in the global markets and have become hallmarks of the »Made in Germany« brand. A healthy balance of company sizes and independent entrepreneurship are crucial for competition to function well and for increased prosperity. The main tasks for 2009 remain reducing bureaucratic red tape, amendments to the company and inheritance tax reforms as well as a reform of the labour market. Education and further training as well as research promotion are becoming increasingly important in view of the sharper global competition for skilled labour and innovation.
The BDI makes the voice of SMEs heard at the European level. The BDI works together with the umbrella organisation BUSINESSEUROPE to improve the lot of small and medium-sized companies in Europe.
