Source: Jugpress / Bujanovac – Nagip Arifi, Mayor of Bujanovac, said that the priority of the local self-government was to create new jobs and hire people, adding that that was a condition for stability of the region.

“There are nearly sixty percent of unemployed people in Bujanovac, including eighty percent of the young under the age of 35, "Mr. Arifi said yesterday, adding that there were a total of 7, 000 employees among residents of the municipality. “Bujanovac is a very poor municipality, but it is also very young when it comes to the age of its residents, so that the young are the most the numerous among the employees”, Mr. Arifi said after signing a contract on the project entitled “The Young Think of Business”.
   
The value of the project is 20,000 US dollars, while it will be implemented by the Office for Local Economic Development of the Municipality of Bujanovac. The project is funded by the PBILD program with 15, 000 US dollars and by the municipality of Bujanovac and the USAID, which will financially support it with 5,000 US dollars each.

The "Young People Think of Business" project is going to include the young under the age of 35 who want to start or improve their business, while it will also provide a systematic support and training courses for young novice entrepreneurs and advanced courses for those already in business.

Nicholas Hercules, PBILD Program Manager, said that in that way a message was  is sent to investors to invest in Bujanovac.

“The project is a logical continuation of the economic development support that we provided to young people in South of Serbia, and it will provide job opportunities for about 200 other young people. Business creativity of young people in Bujanovac has never been questioned. This support will be a lever to them for rebounding to higher business success. "said Mr. Hercules.

He added that new jobs were created through the PBILD program and that it was "good" that those jobs weren’t in the field of administration, but in the field of production.

Michael Pillsbury, Director of the USAID's Economic Security Program, said that past experiences showed that Bujanovac was always ready to adopt new ideas and try something new.

“Our partnership with the PBILD program and the municipality of Bujanovac has two main objectives – to help create new jobs for young people and to spread the spirit of entrepreneurship among them, "said Mr. Pillsbury. He added that "it" would also have long – term positive effects on the accelerated development of both the local community and the whole of Serbia, and that it would start things moving in other flagging regions, which had become such due to their collapsed economies.

“The USAID is proud to be able to cope with these issues in partnership with the UN PBILD program and the municipality of Bujanovac and to assist with the progress of Bujanovac, "he said.

The Partnership between the USAID's Economic Security Program and the Office for Local Economic Development of the Municipality of Bujanovac is going to enable young and interested entrepreneurs to take courses that include the areas of business planning, marketing and sales, as well as other areas, which will prepare them to implement their business ideas.

Ten best business plans will be rewarded with up to 188,000.00 dinars that will be used for equipment or for the improvement of current business activities and job creation.