Cim proposes 50 million euro annual plan for Italian SME growth

Cim, the national competence center, has presented a position paper titled ‘Misurare per scegliere. Investire per crescere’ to the Italian Senate. The proposal aims to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute 99.4% of Italian manufacturing companies.

The plan introduces the National Program for the Competitiveness of MSMEs 2027-2031. It suggests a co-investment model between the public and private sectors, inspired by the German Fraunhofer model, with a guaranteed minimum annual allocation of 50 million euros. Key objectives include removing fiscal and administrative barriers to scale business size, simplifying access to innovation and Artificial Intelligence, and implementing a ‘test before invest’ principle through integrated innovation contracts.