Namely, the Government of Serbia declared 2016 the Year of Entrepreneurship in order to improve the business environment and develop the entrepreneurial spirit at the national level. The ultimate goal of this initiative is to have competitive entrepreneurs ready to act in the common European market.
To this end, the state provided 16 billion Dinars for 33 programmes focused on the support to private entrepreneurial initiative, knowledge and empowerment of local micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
In line with this decision, both the European Union and the Government of Switzerland, through European PROGRES, have provided support to good business ideas and entrepreneurial projects. Thus, in its partner municipalities, the Programme completed two calls for proposals directly aimed at supporting micro and small enterprises and young people who wish to start their own businesses.
One of the outcomes of the call is that seventeen entrepreneurs from the south east and south west of Serbia will improve their production and create new jobs through the activity aimed at increasing competitiveness of the local economy, for which 253,880 Euros were allocated.
Entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprises engaged in the production of food, clothing, metal products, wood processing, or engineering will receive equipment through the Programme or will be provided advisory services that will contribute to larger production, market expansion, and introduction of eco or technological innovations.
“The support to small business in our programme municipalities is unavoidable as this sector is the engine of economic growth and is key for the increase of employment. We have supported good ideas and helped the enterprises who are already operating and fulfil their tax obligations to continue to develop, grow and contribute,” says the European PROGRES manager, Graeme Tyndall.
In the European Union countries, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are the pillar of the economy and generate 85 percent of jobs in the private sector. In Serbia, MSMEs also make up the majority of the businesses – as much as 99.8 percent of the total number of businesses contributing about 34 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP).[1]
However, these companies in Serbia often face problems, including a small number of staff. In Serbia, the average number of employees per business is 2.4, almost a half of the average in the EU member states, which is 4.2.
European PROGRES has targeted this particular problem, as boosting production and competitiveness consequently leads to the creation of new jobs in these enterprises.
“One of the key criteria in the selection of 17 partner enterprises was the number of new jobs to be created and what the selected enterprise can to for its community. Thereby, through the selected projects, over 40 job positions will be created and the citizens will also see the impact of implemented corporate social responsibility activities, such as the construction of children’s playgrounds, donation of equipment to local schools, and donation of beneficiaries’ products to the most vulnerable groups in the community,” said the Sector Manager for Competitiveness of the European PROGRES, Olivera Kostić.
The European Union and the Government of Switzerland have also given their contribution to the resolution of the unemployment problem among young people in Serbia, almost half of whom are jobless according to the Statistics Office of the Republic of Serbia. To make matters worse, young people seeking employment have no opportunity to gain working experience.
The public call for the support to youth self-employment will result in twenty-two young people from 14 municipalities from South East and South West Serbia starting their own enterprises with the support of European PROGRES. Young entrepreneurs who plan to engage in information technology and design, clothes production, processing and canning of fruits and vegetables, among other business activities, will receive equipment worth 183,307 Euros to start their business.
“The European Union and the Government of Switzerland have provided support to young people from programme municipalities to develop their business ideas and set up their operations, which will have a positive impact not only on their lives and that of their families, but also on the local economy. In this manner, young entrepreneurs give a great example to their peers, promote entrepreneurial spirit, and we jointly contribute to finding solutions for the problem of unemployment in this population segment,” adds European PROGRES manager, Graeme Tyndall.
“Starting my own business has been my goal ever since I finished school, and my intention is to involve other young people from my town into this creative business,” says Nikola Cvetković from Vranje, who will start his textile printing company with the support provided.
During the Public Call period, European PROGRES organised nine info-sessions bringing together over 200 participants, and in response to the Call 92 applications were submitted.
Manager of the European PROGRES Good Governance and Social Inclusion Sector, Ana Nedeljković, particularly stressed that the Programme will provide future young entrepreneurs with training and mentorship at the beginning of their operations, in the fields of business management, marketing and planning, to ensure sustainability of the newly established businesses, and added: “The young do not lack ideas, but we need to encourage and support them, particularly at the very beginning, because it is then that the first but key steps in the development of a successful business are made. That is why we provide all our partners with mentoring support in each phase of project implementation. We believe in their success are and are here to help them.”
[1] Serbian Government Strategy for Support to the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Entrepreneurship and competitiveness from 2015 to 2020
