Promotion de l’économie privée
Promotion des exportations pour les PME

The direct beneficiaries will be the Regional Investor and Trade Centres (COIEs), the Regional Authorities (RAs), Polish SMEs, non-profit organizations supporting business and trade and the Polish population.

In the post-communist Central and Eastern Europe, environmental and social concerns have long tended to receive less attention than the significant economic challenges associated with the transition to market economy. However, CSR awareness and implementation in the region are advancing rapidly. In Poland, the CSR concept is relatively new and has not been incorporated in the enterprises’ development policy yet. The 2006 research "Responsible Competitiveness in Europe - Enhancing European Competitiveness through Corporate Responsibility" shows that the national CSR factor and the level of innovativeness in a country are strictly interdependent. Poland, with the lowest CSR factor, ranks 3rd from the bottom regarding innovativeness. The 2007 research "Accelerating CSR practices in the new EU member states and candidate countries as a vehicle for harmonization, competitiveness, and social cohesion in the EU" placed Poland at the bottom of the list of new EU members regarding CSR implementation.

The Polish Ministry of Regional Development together with the Ministry of Economy have considered the Swiss–Polish Cooperation Programme as an excellent opportunity to enforce CSR agenda among Polish SMEs.

• Increase of competitiveness and innovativeness of the economy.
• Improvement of employment conditions, social and ecological involvement.

• Capacity building in the field of CSR for Regional Investor and Trade Centres,  regional authorities through trainings, workshops, advisory services, study visits and awareness rising activities.
• Assistance on implementation of CSR solutions through pilot projects for SMEs, including expertise, technical support and grants.
• Evaluation of the SMEs projects and dissemination of best practices.

• CSR trainings, information meetings and study tours.
• Increased role of COIEs in the regions.
• 90 pilot projects linked to CSR components implemented in Polish SMEs.
• A newly created network of local CSR consultants in Poland.
• Increased awareness, knowledge and confidence on sustainable business development and CSR concepts in Poland.