10th International Entrepreneurship Fair “Business Base”

International Fair of Entrepreneurship – Business Base, which aims to promote entrepreneurship was opened on December 1st and will for the tenth year in a row bring all relevant institutions and companies to one place – from entrepreneurs and associations to local governments, national, regional and international institutions.

Opening this jubilee international fair, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister, Mrs. Verica Kalanovic, said that last year was difficult for economy worldwide as well as in Serbia, stressing that these times require courage for one to be an entrepreneur. She pointed out that the EU will be focused on the investment, support and development of small and medium enterprises in the period to come and added that it must be a policy for the future of both the government and Serbia as a whole. ‘In the future, small and medium enterprises must receive the incentives through legislation, supportive policies and through more efficient work of relevant institutions”, said Kalanovic.

State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development, Mrs. Dragijana Petrovic, said that the event where all the key participants of the economy are gathered in one place is extremely important, because you can feel the development and create solutions. Development of small and medium enterprises is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Economy and government, and this is reflected, as she pointed out, through a number of measures and programs implemented by the ministry in conjunction with agencies and funds. She said that without successful entrepreneur we cannot expect successful economy. Radonjic-Petrovic announced a new software program – a credit line to support women’s entrepreneurship. ”The year 2012 will be recognized by the EU as the year of women entrepreneurship. We have designed a program that will provide funding under specific conditions for women entrepreneurs, who are both owners and managers of these companies’, stated State Secretary.

“Business Base is an event that at its beginning, ten years ago, was a small incentive to work. Over the decade it developed into a manner that has become a place to create work where you are connecting, a step and a road to success” said the Director of the National Agency for Regional Development, Mr. Ivica Eždenci, adding that today Business Base brings business solutions in first hand. ”National Agency for Regional Development and entrepreneurs this year offered a wide range of support, from advice on how to start your own business, training for business start-up financing the development and strengthening the competitive position of enterprises and business connections with companies from 47 countries.  The three-day fair, under the motto “solution at first-hand,” is aimed at developing small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship. In addition to domestic, the largest numbers of participants were from Germany, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia and Slovenia.

Along with many exhibitors, among whom were also representatives of many Regional Development Agencies, RSEDP2 took part as the umbrella programme which provides support and assistance to the RDAs as well as municipal partnerships and 32 projects under the Grant Scheme. ‘We have worked with all the eleven Regional Development Agencies, six municipal partnerships and all the 32 projects and it is truly a pleasure seeing some of them today, present as individual and competent entities, promoting their ideas and skills. I am also very proud to see some of our Grant Scheme project here, such as Automotive Cluster of Serbia, Vojvodina Metal Cluster and Baby Boom as it only goes to show how successful these projects are. It is always rewarding to see them develop and expand and see their final beneficiaries – that is when you fully understand and see the impact of all the work and investments’, said Martin Flaherty, RSEDP2 Team Leader, visiting the stands at the Business Base Fair.

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