Goals
Promoting companies' competitiveness by increasing SMEs' productivity, flexibility, response capacity and active presence in the global market.
Beneficiaries
1. Beneficiaries of the support provided for in the SI Qualificação PME are:
a) Companies of any nature and legal form;
b) Public bodies with specific competences in public policies aimed at SMEs, associations that have formed partnerships with them to pursue public policies, business associations and STS organisations, in the case of joint projects defined in Article 6(1)(b).
2. The intermediate bodies set out in Article 21(3) may not be beneficiaries in joint projects pursuant to point b) of the preceding paragraph.
Sectors
1. To be defined in announcements of calls for applications, though the following CAE are generally eligible:
- Industry: divisions 05 to 33
- Commerce: divisions 45 to 47 (only for SMEs)
- Services: divisions 37 to 39, 58, 59, 62, 63, 69, 70 to 74, 77 excluding group 771 and subclass 77210, 78, 80 to 82, 90 excluding subclass 90040, 91 excluding subclasses 91041, 91042 and 95 in groups 016, 022, 024 and 799 and subclass 64202;
- Tourism: division 55, in groups 561, 563, 771 and 791; activities declared of interest to tourism in subclasses 77210, 90040, 91041, 91042, 93110, 93192, 93210, 93292, 93293, 93294 and 96040;
- Energy: divisions of 35 (only generation)
- Transport and logistics: Groups 493 and 494 and division 52
- Construction: Group 412 and divisions 42 and 43.
2. In duly justified cases, on the basis of their strategic size, the board may consider investment projects in other sectors for support.
3. Within the scope of projects included in collective efficiency strategies, other sectors may also be considered. They will be set out in separate regulations.
4. Support for projects belonging to sectors subject to specific EU restrictions on state aid must abide by the applicable community regulations.
Types of investment
1) The following types of investment in dynamic competitiveness factors are eligible for support:
a) Industrial property – drafting of applications for Portuguese patents, utility models and designs or models abroad directly from national, EU, European and international administrations;
b) Creation, fashion and design – creation of brands, symbols and own collections and improvements in fashion and design capacities;
c) Development and engineering of products, services and processes – improvement in capacity to develop products, processes and services, especially by creating or boosting laboratory capacities;
d) Organisation and management and information and communication technologies (ICT) - introduction of new models or philosophies of organisation of work, reinforcement of management capacities, introduction of ICT, redesign and improvements of layouts and benchmarking;
e) Quality – certification of quality management systems by the Portuguese Quality System (SPQ), certification of products and services while obtaining brands and implementation of total quality management systems;
f) Environment – investments in emission control, environmental audits, waste management, noise reduction, efficient water management, eco-efficient technologies and SPQ certification of environmental management systems, ecology labels and Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS);
g) Innovation – investments in consultancy services and support for innovation and SPQ certification of research, development and innovation management systems;
h) Energy efficiency and diversification – greater energy efficiency and diversification of energy sources based on the use of renewable resources;
i) Digital economy - creation or adaptation of in-house support infrastructure in order to include SMEs in the digital economy and improve business models on the basis of a more effective presence in the digital economy, enabling dematerialised business processes with customers and suppliers by using ICT;
j) Sales and marketing – improving sales, marketing, distribution and logistics capacities;
l) Internationalisation – knowledge of markets, international brand development and promotion, prospection of and presence in international markets, excluding the creation of sales networks abroad, and international promotion and marketing;
m) Social responsibility and occupational health and safety - investments in improving occupational hygiene, health and safety and SPQ certification of social responsibility, food, human resources and occupational health and safety management systems;
n) Equal opportunities – definition and implementation of equality plans making effective contributions to work-life balance and facilitation of an inclusive labour market.
2) Each announcement of a call for invitations for selection will establish the types of investment eligible from those listed above. Each project may cover one or more types, if the announcement so states.
Types of project
1) Projects may take the following forms:
a) Individual project – submitted individually by an SME;
b) Joint project – submitted by one or more of the bodies referred to in Article 6(1)(b) that, with the support of contracted bodies, undertakes a structured intervention programme in a group consisting mainly of SMEs, while abiding by the conditions set out in Annex A;
c) Cooperation project – submitted by an SME or consortium led by an SME resulting from inter-company cooperation;
d) Simplified innovation project (innovation voucher) – submitted by an SME to acquire consultancy and innovation support services from qualified STS organisations.
2) Each announcement of a call for invitations for selection of projects will establish the types of investment eligible from those listed in the preceding point.