EMPASIA is a project funded by the European Commission in the Asia Invest Programme 2006-2007. It brings together European and Asian researchers and business intermediary organizations to promote European know-how and information and communication technologies (ICT) in South-East Asian intermediary organizations.

A major aspect of the project will be the transfer of European best practices in the field of support services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). This best practice consists, on the one hand, of innovation support through the Plato method of coaching SME and on the other hand of the introduction of a sustainable management perspective into the day-to-day business processes.

Through a unique networking approach based on the HARMONY approach to knowledge management within strategic networks, EMPASIA will create a platform, on which European and Asian business intermediary organizations can engage in exchanging knowledge. This will help participants to develop new competencies and infrastructures to better assist their regional SME in the pursuit of their innovation plans and the internationalization of their business strategies.

Explicitly the project will:

• Establish a network of European and Asian SME intermediaries on the basis of the “Knowledge Base Tool”, a software tool developed during the HARMONY project. This software will enable the structured sharing and creation of knowledge in the network.
• Provide the Asian partners with new service to support their SME, by transferring the Plato approach of SME coaching from Europe, specifically from Ireland, to Thailand and Vietnam.
• Introduce the notion of sustainable development to SME through the implementation of CSR specific topics in the training of SME intermediaries and foster the CSR commitment of local multinational enterprises.

Throughout the duration of the project there will be a constant sharing of knowledge among the network partners. The network itself will generate new knowledge through the application and adaptation of the used best-practices. Apart from the transfer of best practices and ICT know-how from Europe to Asia, the project partners will facilitate contacts between Asian and European business, especially SME, to further integrate Thai and Vietnamese SME in the world economy. The application of CSR will play an important role in this context creating benefits for both European and Asian stakeholders.

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