Project Description

FACILITY – SME Support and Capacity building project is the business integration within the cross-border cooperation context.

  • Financed by: EU Delegation to BiH
  • In the period: 06/2007 – 08/2008

Note: The lead partner in the project was the Veneto Region – Brussels Department, Italy.

Overall objective

Business integration within the cross-border cooperation context.

Specific objectives

  1. Improvement of competitiveness and co-operation between the SMEs from the Adriatic area, with focus on agriculture and food processing, wood processing, metal processing, textile and footwear sectors.
  2. Linking SMEs from Italy, Bosnia and Serbia through the organization of bilateral meetings.
  3. Development of an institutional network between Partners in the Project and exchange of good practices and know-how between institutional Partners spurring mutual knowledge.

Achieved results

  • Five seminars organised: 2 in Veneto Region, 1 in Apulia Region, 1 in Central BiH Region and 1 in Serbia. Seminars were intended to SMEs, business associations, agriculture associations and others, interested in business internationalization. The purpose of the seminars was to provide relevant information in developing and growing foreign market, to identify business support requirements, to gain access to the new market opportunities, new foreign partners and similar. REZ Agency obliged to organise 1 seminar in Central BiH Region on the topic Planning and Organizing of Participation at the International Fairs.
  • Four business meetings organised: 1 in Veneto Region, 1 in Apulia Region, 1 in Central BiH Region and 1 in Serbia. All SMEs from Central BiH Region participated to 76 bilateral meetings with Italian and Serbian companies, out of which 35 bilateral meetings with participation of companies from the sectors of agriculture and food industry.
  • Visit to the fair “Fieragricola“ in Verona, Italy organised.
  • All Partners were obliged to prepare SWOT Analysis of strategic business sectors (wood processing industry, metal processing industry, agriculture and food processing industry and textile and footwear industry) in their Regions, as the base for study: “Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia: Which opportunities for business cooperation? Strategic sectors under analysis: wood, metal, agro-food processing, textile and footwear.“
  • Prepared and printed multilingual study “Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia: Which opportunities for business cooperation?“
  • REZ Agency organized participation at the General Fair ZEPS 2007 in Zenica, in order to establish contacts with local entrepreneurs and inform them about co-operation opportunities with Partner countries (Italy and Serbia).
  • Veneto and Apulia organized internship and capacity building in their regions for Bosnian and Serbian partners. Internship in Veneto Region was organized during International fair Fieragricola. During the internship in Apulia Region, business associations from Bari, Lecce and Barletta organised meetings for Bosnian and Serbian Partners. REZ Agency presented investment opportunities in Central BiH Region.

Within the project, a trilingual (Italian, English and Bosnian/Serbian) brochure titled ITALY, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, SERBIA: WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES FOR BUSINESS COOPERATION? was prepared

The brochure is available for download upon a click on the following icon:

Brochure ITALY, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, SERBIA: WHAT ARE THE POSSIBILITIES FOR BUSINESS COOPERATION?