Private Sector Development Project in 3 cities (Vranje, Leskovac and Novi Pazar) and 9 municipalities (Preševo, Bujanovac, Medveđa, Raška, Sjenica, Tutin, Priboj, Prijepolje and Nova Varoš) of South and Southwest Serbia

General information about the Project

Development Agency of Serbia is implementing the Private Sector Development Project in 3 cities (Vranje, Leskovac and Novi Pazar) and 9 municipalities (Preševo, Bujanovac, Medveđa, Raška, Sjenica, Tutin, Priboj, Prijepolje and Nova Varoš) of South and Southwest Serbia, in cooperation with the independent agency of the Government of the United States of America, USAID.

Development Agency of Serbia is the PSD Project coordinator.

In the Project implementation, RAS includes accredited regional development agencies covering the territories of cities and municipalities where the Project is implemented: ARDA “Zlatibor” from Uzice, ARDA “SEDA” from Novi Pazar, Center for the Development of Jablanica and Pcinja Districts – CRJPO from Leskovac and Regional Agency for Spatial and Economic Development of Raska and Moravica Districts from Kraljevo.

Project financing

The Project is financed by the United States of America, through the mission of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Project budget – $4,159,987;

Overall Project Objective: “Strengthening SMEEs in selected regions by establishing broader links.” By establishing links between SMEEs in selected regions, as well as new, bigger markets, the Project will increase sales and exports and create new jobs.

Beneficiaries

• SMEEs

• Associations and clusters from identified areas;

• Youth and women (potential entrepreneurs and business start-ups).

Selected sectors

• Agribusiness,

• Fashion industry (including textile, clothes and footwear industries), and

• Light manufacturing industry.

Project activities

Component 1 – Implemented through the analysis of sectors and needs of beneficiaries, followed by non-financial and financial assistance, as follows:

• Selection of 184 SMEEs, PSD Project beneficiaries, assessment of their needs for labor and skills, and providing assistance through:

  • trainings (basic and advanced)

  • mentoring (50 hours per beneficiary)

  • consulting (5 hours per beneficiary)

  • technical assistance (organization of business operations in accordance with the requirements of international business standards; new product and packaging design; development and implementation of specialized software, etc.).

• Selection and analysis of 8 associations/clusters and providing assistance through:

  • Trainings (basic and advanced) for management of associations/clusters

  • Technical assistance (organization of development programs, specialized trainings, workshops on technical regulations applied in the EU market and relevant for clusters’ business activity; organization of seminars and conference; development of clusters’ joint services; development of feasibility studies and other project documents for joint infrastructural projects, etc.).

  • Grants for development of associations/clusters.

• Support to female and youth entrepreneurship through:

  • Business start-up trainings, more than 400 participants at business start-up training cycles for. For the competition for grants, 180 business plans have been submitted.

  • Competition and grants for financing of the best business ideas (60 grants in total).

  • Additional trainings and mentoring for newly established businesses

  • Grants for additional business development for grantees who established businesses with the funds from the PSD Project (31 business development grants awarded so far)

Component 2 includes support to identified SMEEs and clusters in internationalization, organization of matchmaking events, exhibitions at international fairs and trainings on exports and investment opportunities. So far, 12 international fairs and 2 B2B events have been organized (Leskovac and Novi Pazar).