GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Competition has become global and so is innovation.

To compete effectively in new and emerging markets, European and African SMEs need to develop partnerships with their strategic counterparts to generate joint business opportunities in new product-market combinations. Developing a new product-market combination with a strategic partner can be very challenging for SMEs on both continents in terms of technological & financial risks, and market barriers.

Before starting, it is essential to assess first the technical feasibility as well as developing a deep understanding of the business environment, including the financial, legal, market and cultural aspects in the targeted markets. This instrument will allow European and African SMEs to develop a partnership beyond conventional market studies, sales channels and export aids.

An SME friendly bottom-up approach applies, with no specific technical areas to be addressed.

Proposals should specify how they will promote the calls, how they will monitor and report on call results and how they will assess the quality of the outcomes and experiences from the VAPs, as well as how they will provide regular in-depth analyses and which indicators will be used for measuring the impacts achieved. Analyses should draw up R&I policy conclusions on questions such as which additional joint R&I activities in third countries should be supported, what framework conditions for R&I cooperation need improving, and what further R&I support services should be implemented.