International Conference ‘’Strengthening of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises by Guarantee Schemes and COSME Programme’’
Organised by the Guarantee Fund of AP Vojvodina and European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina the international conference ‘’Strengthening of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises by Guarantee Schemes and CO
Organised by the Guarantee Fund of AP Vojvodina and European Affairs Fund of AP Vojvodina the international conference ‘’Strengthening of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises by Guarantee Schemes and COSME Programme’’ was held at the Assembly of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. It aim was to promote the EU programmes for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), present the experience of EU member states and assess all legal options to contribute to SME crediting in Serbia. The guarantee system was a step towards improving the competitiveness in entrepreneurship and strengthening the sector.
The conference was opened by the Vice-President of the Provincial Government of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and Provincial Secretary for Economy, Employment and Gender Equality, Miroslav Vasin who made reference to the measures and policy implemented by the Secretariat within the enhancement of the sector of entrepreneurship and craftsmanship. The participants at the conference were representative of the Ministry of Finance, Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of Serbia, European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), USAID, financial institutions of EU member states, Austria, Hungary and Italy, applying the model of micro-credit and guarantee schemes, as well as representative of SMEs and the banking sector.
Zorica Marić, Counsellor at the Ministry of Economy, Department for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness, presented the programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) 2014-2020 – COSME, a multi-annual programme of the European Commission, within which significant funds in the amount of €1,025 bn were allocated for several areas: smart and inclusive development, sustainable development, natural resources, safety and citizenship, global Europe and public administration. The programme is aimed at improving the competitiveness and sustainability of European enterprises, encouraging entrepreneurial culture and enhancing SME start-up and development. The final beneficiaries are SMEs, entrepreneurs, business support organisations, regional and national administration. The planned budget for the COSME implementation from 2014 to 2020 is €2.3bn.
Special measures the COSME programme employs for entrepreneurial development are awards for the best entrepreneurial idea to increase motivation, furthermore, Erasmus for Entrepreneurs, because it has been estimated that better results are achieved when experience between entrepreneurs is transferred because they gain insight into the business policies of developed companies, share experience and increase know-how to establish an innovative atmosphere, pricing, operativness, etc. In addition, women entrepreneurship is at the top of the priority list. Some of the well-known examples of projects having been funded under the programme are “Enterprise Europe Network Serbia”, “European Network of Mentors for Women Entrepreneurs – WEM”, “’Transnational tourism routes: Hiking tourism along the Danube – Danube Hike“, “’Transnational thematic tourism routes: Western Balkan Adventure and Discovery Tour – WBAADT“, etc.
SMEs could have greater benefits from the EU programme through direct participation meaning that SMEs implement activities by participating in project consortia, and through indirect participation by using subsidiary financial instruments. In the public calls published under the programme, SMEs from Serbia are not discriminated when compared to European ones, but are equal. In addition to the COSME programme, the topics covered at the conference involved the presentation of experiences and role of EU member states in strengthening SMEs through micro-credit and guarantee schemes, in which representatives of national entities, institutions and organisations, as well as countries in the region participated.
The conference presentations may be downloaded here:
Andreas Beikos EIB, Caroline Tsilikounas AgroInvest, Johannes Busse EBRD, Laszlo Toth AVHGA, Luisa Corbelletto FINEST, Sandra Rodic USAID, Zdravko Ilic Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, Zorica Maric Ministry of Economy
