European PROGRES has published a Call for Proposals (CfP), within which it will approve business start-up grants to youths in 34 South East and South West Serbian local self-governments. The European Union and Swiss Government have earmarked 180,000 EUR to support this activity, aimed at encouraging youth entrepreneurship.
Unemployed youths between 18 and 30 years of age, registered with the National Employment Service for at least three months on the day of publication of the CfP, who are permanent residents of one of the local self-governments in European PROGRES' Area of Responsibility and plan on starting their own businesses in one of them, are eligible to apply.
“The European Union and the Swiss Government are helping address the problem of high unemployment rates of this category of the population by encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship among youths,” said European PROGRES Programme Manager Graeme Tyndall.
The Programme will support 20 business start-ups in the manufacturing, IT and the food processing industries, with minimum 2,500 and maximum 10,000 EUR per project. European PROGRES will not grant the approved funds to the successful applicants, but use them to purchase the machines, equipment and other durable goods (including software) they need to launch their businesses. The successful future entrepreneurs will begin the process of registering their businesses with the Business Registers' Agency once their project proposals are approved and before the sought equipment, machines and durable goods are bought.
“The projects will be evaluated in a competitive two-stage process. During Stage 1, the applicants will submit project concept notes and in Stage 2 the shortlisted applicants will have to undergo training in entrepreneurship. Only those, who successfully complete the training program and achieve the pre-defined milestones, will be eligible to submit their full project proposals,” said Ana Nedeljković, Manager of the European PROGRES Good Governance and Social Inclusion Sector.
European PROGRES will organise the info sessions about the Call requirements and application procedures for the interested applicants in South East and South West Serbia in April 2016.
The Call for Proposals is open until 11 May 2016. More information about the Call for Proposals and all the application documentation are available on European PROGRES' website: http://www.europeanprogres.org/pozivi/sr/
