ADVERTISEMENT A thriving business sector, with young high-growth firms on the rise, especially in the tech sector - are key if Europe is to speed up its productivity which is lagging behind the US, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The organisation's newly published report "Europe's Declining Productivity Growth: Diagnoses and Remedies" is calling for urgent steps to close the productivity gap between the EU and the US, especially in high-growth sectors, such as information