Support to Improving the Business Environment for Small and Rural Enterprises

The project shall provide technical assistance to support to the Ministry of Economic Development, the Directorate for SME Development (SMEDA) and its regional offices, the business support services and entrepreneurs:

(i) Building capacity in central and local government for dialogue with the private sector leading to the elimination of current business barriers; including assistance with the design, drafting and implementation of a regulatory framework consistent with the Acquis and the development of training, monitoring and evaluation strategies.

(ii) Improving access to finance for small and rural enterprises – especially those in the poorer regions- through the credit guarantee fund, in line with EU and international best practices, in the context of global crisis participating in mitigating the risk of credit crunch.

(iii) Developing and business incubators, including further support to the recently created incubator in Podgorica, and expansion of such initiative to the northern region of the country.