ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the main conclusions of the analyses carried out in the previous sections of the book and discusses some relevant recommendations. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to European economies. In Greece 99.9 per cent of businesses have fewer than 250 workers. Given their economic relevance, the role of small- and medium-sized enterprises and their ability to grow and to succeed are essential for economic development and the financial performance and viability of the Greek economy. The financing model of Greek companies is based mainly on bank lending. The average share of bank lending in the overall funding in Greece is much higher than in other countries of the euro area. It is necessary to act harmoniously and in a multidirectional way to boost the growth of the SME sector through the wider access to the banking services. In this chapter, we analyse the role of the government, the business community, and promotional institutions in this process. This chapter also contains an admission of some of the issues and problem remaining unsolved in this study, which can be viewed as directions for future researches.
