Updated: 2018-06-29
On June 26, 2018, the International SMEs Development Academic Conference (2018) hosted by the Business School of Beijing Technology and Business University was held in Beijing. Nearly 200 people including the Business School’s deans, professor representatives, and international students from more than 10 countries including Germany, Finland, Russia, the Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey, Romania, and Tanzania, as well as university professors, entrepreneurs, and graduate students from China attended the academic conference.
As the Chinese sponsor of the conference, Professor Xie Zhihua, Vice President of Beijing Technology and Business University, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Small and Medium Enterprises Development and National Growth". As the foreign sponsor of the conference, Prof. Diderich Barker from Hans University of Applied Sciences briefed the audience on the background, purpose, and significance of launching the Global Alliance for SME Research. He proposed ideas on how to promote transnational research in the field of SMEs.
Scholars from various countries also gave keynote speeches on the development status of their own SMEs. Prof. Wolf, Prof. Romkoski, Dean Nest and Prof. Agula, Dean Sergey and Prof. Sennaf, and Prof. Wiener delivered their respective speeches as well.
Wang Yonggui, Dean of the International Business School of the University of International Business and Economics, and Professor Wang Guoshun, Dean of the Business School of Beijing Technology and Business University also took the stage to speak to the audience.
The conference also arranged for a discussion session. Professor Barker from the Netherlands, Professor Wolf from Germany, Dean Mbanda from Tanzania, Dean Meglin from Thailand, Professor Liu Wengang, and Associate Professor Wang Nan from the Business School of Beijing Technology and Business University focused on the key issues and future directions of SME research during the discussion.
The convening of the International SMEs Development Academic Conference provides a good foundation and platform for conducting transnational research in the field of SMEs. All parties unanimously agreed to continue hosting this academic conference for the years to come and decided to hold the 2019 international conference on SMEs development in Bangkok, Thailand.