SMEs in Serbia will receive more than 740 million EUR in favorable loans in the coming period, which is part of the European Union's COSME SME Competitiveness Program, while loans to Serbian enterprises will be provided through five financial intermediaries, or banks, Branimir Stojanovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, said.
SMEs in Serbia will receive more than 740 million EUR in favorable loans in the coming period, which is part of the European Union's COSME SME Competitiveness Program, while loans to Serbian enterprises will be provided through five financial intermediaries, or banks, Branimir Stojanovic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy, said.
At the Regional Conference of the Enterprise Europe Network -EEN in Belgrade, Mr. Stojanovic emphasized the strategic commitment of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the line Ministry to support the development of entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprises.
It is this sector in Serbia that makes up 99 percent of the total enterprises and employees in our country.
“Our main goal is to improve their competitiveness and productivity, as well as to expand their business operations and improve employment. As part of COSME, five financial intermediaries participate in the program, while over 740 million EUR in loans will be available to small and medium-sized enterprises in Serbia," Mr. Stojanovic said.
Nemanja Zugic, Vice-President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, presented the results of the Erazmus project for young entrepreneurs, which marks the tenth anniversary this year.
Referring to the results of the EEN program, Mr. Zugic said that over the previous 11 years, 17,000 SMEs had used the services of the program, while 75 percent of the total number of companies had participated in various training and used advisory services provided by the network experts.
During this period, 315 small and medium-sized enterprises from Serbia signed business contracts with foreign partners, mostly in the sectors of agriculture, food industry, ICT, textile, metal and wood industries.
So far, 15 institutions from Serbia have withdrawn funds from this program in the total amount of 2.2 million EUR (2,223,963 EUR).
The Enterprise Europe Network is a project implemented under the COSME program and Serbia joined it in 2015.
The total budget of the COSME program is 2.3 billion EUR for the 2014-2020 period and it is aimed at supporting and promoting entrepreneurship.
Source: Evening News and Coordination Body
