Commitment to back SMEs and the self-employed

An agreement has been signed with the PIMEC to invest 700,000 euros in various plans to support intergenerational handovers, the recovery and the digitalisation of SMEs and the self-employed in the city.

30/11/2020 14:32 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

Advice on recovery, consolidation and business growth

A personalised advisory service is to be set up and should provide 1,000 hours of individual support overall, for between 120 and 200 businesses. A programme will also be created to foster intergenerational handovers, with highly personalised advice to help business owners plan and execute the switch to new generations. A trial stage will initially be conducted with 20 companies from the metropolitan area for whom the health emergency has accelerated the process of intergenerational handover at the head of the company.

Support and psychological care for the self-employed

There will also be a boost for the programme being rolled out by the PIMEC and the Fundació Salut, offering emotional and psychosocial support in person and by phone for the self-employed and their employees, with a special emphasis on people in vulnerable situations.

Fostering the digital economy

Digital skills acquisition programmes by Barcelona Activa will be made more widely available. This includes the specialised technology training from the IT Academy, to promote ICT profiles in high demand, and other initiatives to promote science and technology vocations, such as the STEAM Barcelona plan.

The e-invoicing project will also be developed to help with the creation, processing and reception of invoices and minimise incidents relating to invoicing and payments.

In addition, members of the PIMEC will be making their digital knowledge available to self-employed people receiving training at the digital literacy points in the city’s libraries.

Participation in public procurement

Technical advice will also be made available for companies to become familiar with the City Council’s e-procurement tools, particularly so that they can process their company’s digital identity. The agreement also covers the second Public Procurement Fair.

In line with the seventeen sustainable development goals in the 2030 Agenda

The PIMEC will be conducting a study on the implementation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) among the city’s SMEs. A second stage will produce a snapshot of the main indicators for companies, how they are applying the SDGs and what benefits or problems they’re encountering. A later stage will offer an analysis of the indicators and propose specific measures to foster their adoption by SMEs as a whole.

 

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