Irish minister calls on policy makers to address negative views of entrepreneurship
Irish Minister for Trade and Commerce Michael Ahern has spoken of the need to change attitudes towards entrepreneurship in Europe in order to meet the Lisbon goal of making Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. Mr Ahern blamed 'the current balance of risks and rewards' for negative attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and appealed for these perceptions to be addressed urgently and at all levels. The minister also underlined the need to cater for the diversity of entrepreneurs and their needs: 'Entrepreneurs are not a homogenous group. On the contrary they are extraordinarily diverse, coming from a wide range of backgrounds, with very different educational qualifications and skills, very mixed age and experience profiles, very different attitudes to risk and very different motivations. Faced with such diversity, it seems clear that there can be no single magic formula that will deliver significant progress in improving the entrepreneurial culture in an economy.' 'On the contrary,' continued Mr Ahern, 'it points to the need for a wide range of diverse actions, each tailored to the needs of particular niches or sub-groups.' Drawing on Ireland's experiences, the minister recommended sponsorship for entrepreneurship programmes in schools, support for research and development linkages between enterprises and universities, and initiatives to make available finance for enterprises, including seed capital and early stage financing. Mr Ahern also recommended the exchange of best practice between Member States as 'one of the keys to success'.
Kraje
Ireland