A panel discussion titled The challenges of employment policy at local level and the process of European integration of Serbia was held at the Public Library Dositej Obradovic in Novi Pazar.
The goal was to enable a discussion about challenges, opportunities and impact of the process of European integration in terms of economic development and employment policy at the local level. The discussion sought to answer the following questions: What are the key characteristics of labour market and what have local actors done to improve the situation in the area of employment in Novi Pazar so far? What areas/sectors are likely to see the opening of new jobs in the future? What changes, if any, should be initiated or made in the area of education in order to meet the needs of the local economy? What are the options and perspectives of stimulating development of entrepreneurship, among the youth in particular? To what extent could the process of European integration contribute to solving the problem of unemployment – what is the role of EU-supported projects in this context?
Keynote speakers, who sought to answer the aforementioned questions, were Rami Paljevac, Head of the Economy Department of the City of Novi Pazar, Haris Imamovic, Employment Advisor at the National Employment Service in Novi Pazar and Mirza Alickovic, founder of the SMARTI company. The moderator of the discussion was Teo Taranis, a member of Team Europe Serbia.
The panellists pointed to extremely unfavourable economic and social situation in Novi Pazar, characterised by high unemployment rate, among the youth in particular, limited capacity of the local economy to create new jobs and the lack of foreign investment. When it comes to possible solutions to challenges faced by local labour market, the participants stressed the need for a stronger tie between educational institutions and local economy. What could be beneficial to strengthening those ties is the adoption of law on dual education; taking advantage of programmes aimed at additional training and retraining of workers in shortage occupations; and increased support for entrepreneurship. As an encouraging fact, the participants mentioned that in 2016 the number of newly created companies was higher than the number of failed businesses.
Mirza Alickovic, a young entrepreneur, founder of the STARTIT company, who set up his business thanks to a grant received through the European PROGRES, said that young people were sceptical and reluctant when it comes to starting their own business, adding that his company set an excellent example of how a good idea can reeive support and be put into action.
Panel discussion was attended by the representatives of the local self-government, Regional Development Agency of Sandzak – SEDA, high schools, State University of Novi Pazar, NGOs and the youth.
The panel discussion was organised in the framework of Team Europe Serbia activities with support from the EU Delegation to Serbia and the EU Info Centre.
