Support to Enterprise Competitiveness and Export Promotion

Detailed description of project:

The overall objective was to support the development of a market economy and socio-economic cohesion by increasing the international competitiveness and export performance of SMEs.

The project purposes were as follows:

• Develop the capacity of the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development (MoERD), Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA), National Agency for Regional Development (NARD) and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCoC) to support enterprises through cluster development, supply chain development and export promotion;
• Increase the competitiveness of Serbian enterprises through cluster development;
• Improve integration of Serbian enterprises into local and global supply chains;
• Boost export activities of Serbian enterprises.

The results achieved:

Institutional strengthening/Capacity building

• Major Government and other national stakeholders supported.

Cluster mapping and analysis

• Cluster analysis and map completed;
• Review completed of support organizations.

Support for cluster development

• A minimum of 60 enterprises supported through participation in one or more cluster initiatives;
• A minimum of 20 support organisations supported through participation in one or more cluster initiatives;
• Cluster synergies identified, cluster experience exchange group set up for each cluster, sharing opportunities for technology identified;
• Regular updated relevant information available to each cluster;
• Training courses developed for each cluster;
• Identification of cluster technology transfer brokers for each cluster.

Supply chain development

• An additional 15 local experts trained in EFQM;
• An additional 5 existing SIEPA staff certified as EFQM assessors;
• A minimum of an additional 15 multinational companies recruited to participate in the programme;
• A minimum of 80 companies selected assessed and, of the 80 initially supported, 50 companies receiving more in-depth supplier development support. Mentoring teams set up to assist final 50 companies to address the needs of the multinationals;
• Regular training/mentoring delivered to the 50 selected enterprises;
• Four “Meet the Buyer” events organized;
• New and improved trade linkages among enterprises.

Internationalisation

• Information on CEFTA actively disseminated nationwide;
• Clusters identify foreign and domestic investors and partners for trade agreements, joint ventures, technology transfer, R&D cooperation;
• Cluster members involved in international networks;
• New export deals, joint ventures and other agreements signed or in progress;
• Serbian exporters association established;
• Participation of Serbian SMEs in European Commission CIP and FP7 programmes increased.

Type of services provided:

• Support the MoERD and the other major stakeholders in the development and implementation of strategic actions in clustering, supply chain management and exporting;
• Undertake a cluster mapping study to appraise potential for further cluster development and to identify six priority clusters for project support;
• Provide comprehensive analysis and detailed recommendations for strengthening of the support infrastructure for companies in the clusters and supply chains;
• Develop a number of cluster initiatives to address the identified gaps and opportunities in the six target clusters (coordination activities, information support, training and capacity building support, knowledge transfer);
• Improving business links and the information and product flowsbetween related enterprises (local and multinational);
• Train and certify an additional cadre of 15 local experts, utilising also train-the trainer programmes, in enterprise assessmentmethodology (using the EFQM methodology) and selected enterprise competitiveness issues;
• Identify and engage a minimum of an additional 15 multinational companies;
• EFQM certification of additional 5 existing SIEPA staff;
• Develop and apply a screening matrix to identify a minimum of 80 Serbian potential suppliers in 4 strategically chosen sectors;
• Apply additional filters to select 50 companies to receive intensive support;
• Appoint a mentoring teams to support the 50 companies;
• Provide training and surgery sessions for the selected enterprises;
• Organise events such as ‘Meet the Buyer’ events;
• Internationalisation support to enterprises (Export promotion and CEFTA information and promotion, partner search and promotion of CEFTA linkages, support involvement of cluster members in international networks, support the establishment of a Serbian exporters association, promotion participation of enterprises in FP7 and CIP).

Name of client:

MoERD, SIEPA, NARD, SCoC