 | How Do We Catch up with America in Terms of Entrepreneurship? |
“I’m not crazy about America!” – Russia’s Deputy Economic Development Minister Stanislav Voskresensky exclaimed patriotically, not worrying about annoying the U.S. citizens present at the forum. But then he added, “But, of course, America ranks No. 1 as a country that has demonstrated a real entrepreneurial spirit and a thirst for innovations. There simply isn’t another country like it.”
Andrei Sharov, Director of the Department of State Economic Regulation in the Economic Development and Trade Ministry (MERT), suggests that for Russian private business to develop, promotion at various levels is needed. “I recall the results of a sociological study: Whom do Russian women prefer to marry? And entrepreneurs were at the bottom of the list. This is very important. If we don’t change women’s preferences, then I think few people will want to be entrepreneurs,” Sharov joked. Support for entrepreneurship, in his opinion, must be displayed not only in state policy, but also in the family, at all levels of the educational system, and in public opinion.
Stanislav Voskresensky, mentioned above, noted in his presentation that the judicial reform now under way should provide a stimulus for development of entrepreneurship in Russia: “Freedom of entrepreneurship in often rests on the possibility of asserting your rights and seeking an impartial decision, one that is not dependent on your ties and financial potential,” Voskresenskii acknowledged. “Faith in the triumph of the law will allow people to do business without fear and to take more risks. I’m convinced that the tax system is secondary.”
Speaking about the development of innovations, Christine Gulbranson, Director, Advancing Innovation, of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Fund, reported on a new kind of business incubators: “Previously the incubator was in reality a piece of real estate: just a building and office equipment. Today the requirements are different—we need to ‘marry’ the inventors and the investors, create a mentoring system, and develop a knowledge base. This is active incubation, a machine to generate companies.”
Olga Dergunova (formerly chief of the Russian division of Microsoft, and now a member of the board of Vneshtorgbank) is concerned that the effectiveness of the use of state resources targeted at innovation development is subject to doubt. Only 8 percent of the allocated funds have been invested in projects. One popular explanation is that there is no demand for innovations in . Another is that, despite an abundance of good ideas, the management of projects is extremely poor. “The state won’t be able to get away with just giving money,” Dergunova is certain. “State corporations must be forced to transfer part of their functions to outsourcing.” Her second suggestion is to establish limits of effectiveness for state-owned companies. “For example, stipulate that the Russian Railways, despite vigorous growth of traffic, must consume no more than 80 percent of the amount of electrical power used this year. Then the railway will immediately think about the need for installation of energy-saving lamps and automatic switches. That is, a demand for innovations actually will be created,” Dergunova concluded. She noted that, according to the plan of the Ministry of Economic Development, by 2020 is supposed to be one of the five most high-tech countries. At present, the share of the high-tech sectors in the GDP of the five developed countries is 27 percent. In , it totals 5 percent. But by 2020, to be in the top five, we will have to raise it to 50 percent.
“The global market is a constantly accelerating mechanism for sorting all businesses into effective and non-effective ones,” said Sergey Borisov, summing up the results of the meeting. Borisov, President of OPORA Rossii, an all-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, added, “Russian and American entrepreneurs are alike in some ways, but in many ways they are different. Americans work progressively; we look for a breakthrough. And, as before, we strive to ‘catch up with and overtake .’”
The forum participants, who included both government officials and business community representatives from both countries, also discussed how to make “another such country” or to approach that ideal, as it were. The first event of this kind took place five years ago, and this time the organizers decided to change the format and arrange for a discussion with a moderator.
Jonathan Ortmans, President of Global Entrepreneurship Week, reminded those present that entrepreneurship is the basis of the American economy. The facts bear that out: more than 50 percent of new jobs in the are created by companies that have been in existence for fewer than five years. But 70 percent of the total number of jobs is accounted for by the small and medium-sized business sector.
David Bohigian, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance, believes that the main secret of American success is the openness of the economy, and he expressed a wish for to move in that same direction.
Author: Artem Pashchuk
Source:
"My business" magazine
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