Entrepreneurs should get information on EU support and join forces and engage with public and scientific institutions in order to increase their chances to draw money from development funds.
This was the main message of the session “EU support for SMEs in Serbia,“ organised thanks to cooperation between “Vladislav Petkovic Dis“ public library and project “EUTEKA – the EU at your library“. Entrepreneurs from Cacak attended the presentation of EU and Serbian funds currently available to them, whereas businessmen who had previously taken part in such projects shared their experience of participation.
Entrepreneurs were welcomed by Mihailo Jovic, Cacak City Council Member responsible for economy, who commended this mode of information dissemination and pointed out the importance of the experience of companies which had already taken part in such projects.
“We should increase withdrawal of funding from EU development funds and the best way to do it is to interconnect entrepreneurs but also to engage them with local self-governments, development agencies, scientific institutions and others who have previous experience of applying for this type of funding,” said Slavko Lukic, reminding that the non-financial benefits SMEs could receive from EU projects, particularly the benefits regarding education and counselling, are also very important.
Adam Sofronijevic, Deputy Director of University Library in Belgrade, talked about how to stimulate entrepreneurial spirit within companies and among employees. “To make yourself competitive on the market, you and your employees have to have entrepreneurial spirit,” he said.
The audience was also addressed by Djordje Jovanovic, Sales and Marketing Director of “Uniplast” company from Cacak which had participated in a project implemented by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development titled “Advisory support for SMEs”. He stressed that advice and education he and his staff had received through the project help them to reposition their company, eliminate disadvantages and enhance advantages.
The discussion with entrepreneurs is part of the project “Euteka – the EU at your library” aimed to provide tangible support to libraries in order to make them hubs of EU-related information in their communities. In the coming days, sessions as such will be organised in other Serbian cities as well.
