The idea behind this masterclass originates from a paper commissioned by the Governance Fund on the Social-Ecological Market Economy in Germany, which I had the privilege to contribute to. As a former minister for economic affairs in the state of Schleswig-Holstein – a strip of land in the north of Germany characterised by small municipalities and firms – my focus was on small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and on local business development.

The paper provided an overview of the key characteristics of a socially and ecologically balanced market economy and raised specific questions: Which of these characteristics can be translated into emerging economies? What specific conditions apply to SMEs? Which factors drive growth? The answer was that SMEs need strong public bodies at the local level and a regulatory framework at the macroeconomic level.