Minister Zupan Stresses Importance of Eureka
Slovenian Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Jure Zupan has said that Eureka's main advantage lies in the simple but excellently organised network, at a conference on the programme in Prague.
Zupan, speaking at a ministerial conference of the pan-European network for market-oriented, industrial research and development, added that EUREKA's simplicity and effectiveness make the programme interesting for a large number of small and medium-sized companies (SME).
Indeed, the number of SMEs taking part in the programme is over 40%, a number difficult to achieve on a national, let alone an international level, he told on Friday the participants of the conference, entitled "Contributing to the Reinforcement of Europe's Global Competitiveness".
Zupan moreover said that EUREKA's main goal should be aimed at increasing the quality of its projects.
The conference also marked the end of the Czech Republic's one year stint at EUREKA's helm, which will be handed over to Italy on 1 July. Next in line to preside the programme is Slovenia, which is scheduled to start its presidency in July 2007.
Slovenia is also slated to play the host to the next EUREKA ministerial conference, a biennial event, with the ministers expected in Ljubljana in June 2008.
The participants were told that during the Czech presidency, 185 projects were started, worth EUR 250m in total. They also welcomed improved cooperation between EUREKA and European technological platforms, especially in the field of nanotechnology.
Slovenia has been a member of the EUREKA programme since 1994. It is currently carrying out 45 EUREKA projects worth nearly EUR 23m, a fraction of some 740 projects Europe-wide worth over EUR 5bn.
The country had so far managed to complete 64 projects worth EUR 36m. The Higher Education, Science and Technology Ministry earmarks EUR 1.8m a year for such projects.
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