Seventeen micro and small enterprises from 14 local self-governments from South East and South West Serbia will improve their production and create new jobs with support of the European Union and Swiss Government that have, through the development programme European PROGRES, provided 253,880 Euros for this activity, focusing on increased competitiveness of the local economy.
“By supporting entrepreneurs, micro and small enterprises we are striving to increase employment and add to the value chain of the local suppliers, market extension and higher productivity,” EU Delegation in Serbia Head of Operations II, Steffen Hudolin, said today in Vranje on the occasion of awarding grant contracts to businesses from 14 local self-governments included in the implementation of the European PROGRES programme.
“Your businesses will also implement socially responsible projects, so your local communities will see the direct benefit of this support through building children’s playgrounds or donating your products to socially most vulnerable community members,” Hudolin added, stressing that support to small businesses was an investment in the more productive future of the entire business community in Serbia.
European PROGRES, with financial support of the EU and Swiss Government, is cooperating closely with local and national authorities and designing its activities so as to respond to the needs of the population and partners. Thus the activities of support to micro and small enterprises are complementary with Serbian Government’s efforts to foster the development of entrepreneurship.
Serbian Government has declared the year 2016 to entrepreneurship, in order to improve the business-friendly environment on the national level and develop entrepreneurial spirit, with the aim to make domestic entrepreneurs competitive and ready to appear on the common, European market.
“Entrepreneurs represent the fundamental, most important part of the Serbian economy, and the Government will during this and the next year continue to provide support to the private sector even more intensively. Budget resources are available and we will design programmes, in cooperation with European Union programmes, in order to support entrepreneurs,” Dragan Stevanović, State Secretary with the Ministry of Economy, said.
Expressing gratitude for the support on behalf for men and women entrepreneurs, Milan Veličković, owner of the family dairy Veličković from Surdulica, stressed how important the support to businesses is during the first years of operation. His business will be improved with cooling chambers that will be received with the support of the European Union and Swiss Government through European PROGRES, production increased and new workers employed.
“Although for the most of us corporate social responsibility is a novelty, we are looking forward to the opportunity to help our community and adopt a practice that goes beyond the legal frameworks and business goals,” said Veličković, whose company will donate dairy products to socially vulnerable families and implement a cleaning action on the part of the Alkica river bed.
Earlier in the day, EU Delegation Head of Operations, II Steffen Hudolin, together with Vranje Mayor, Slobodan Milenković, visited the Free Zone in Vranje, the infrastructural development of which was supported by the European Union and Swiss Government by funding the development of planning and technical documentation, and in this way enabled large investments, such as “Geox” and “Ditre Italia”.
“This project demonstrates that long-term thinking, timely planning and preparation are key for development – in this case for attracting investments and creating jobs,” Steffen Hudolin said, and expressed his pleasure that the European Union would continue to support Vranje in further efforts to develop the Zone and attract more investments.
As part of a new project, European Union and Swiss Government, through European PROGRES, allocated 192,000 Euros for further improvement of infrastructure in the Free Zone, including the construction of the water supply network, rainwater drainage and sewage and access roads.
“The precondition for all investments is a developed infrastructure, and this is a concrete example of the importance of support that the European Union and Swiss Government are providing to Vranje. Our future cooperation will move in this direction through the implementation of infrastructural, but also other projects that we are implementing together with European PROGRES, with the aim of achieving better lives for the men and women of Vranje,” said Vranje Mayor, Slobodan Milenković.
EU Delegation Head of Operations II, Steffen Hudolin, ended his two-day visit to South Serbia in Bujanovac, where he met with the Mayor, Shaip Kamberi, and President of the Coordination Body for Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa, Zoran Stanković, and confirmed the dedication of the European Union to the development of this part of the country.
