The workshop on ‘Enterprise Development’, which was jointly organised by the Initiative for Social Cohesion and the OECD-led Investment Compact of Working Table II of the Stability Pact, brought together officials and experts from a number of Stability Pact initiatives, as well as representatives from bilateral donors and international organisations. Taking place on 7 and 8 February in Istanbul, the event was motivated by recommendations made at two previous conferences, namely the ‘Entrepreneurship and Employment’ conference of May 2004 in Bucharest, and the ‘Training for Employability’ workshop of April 2005. These conferences highlighted the need to stimulate the climate for enterprise development and the importance of providing instruments that combine access to credit and technical assistance to stimulate and sustain private sector development.

In line with these recommendations, the specific objectives of the workshop were to:   

• Examine the various types of financial and non-financial support schemes that can be made available to stimulate SME development (in particular start-ups);
• Examine methods to ensure enterprise support as a tool to lessen the impact of industrial restructuring;
• Devise recommendations for specific activities that should be undertaken under the Stability Pact’s Investment Compact and Initiative for Social Cohesion to further support SME development in SEE.

Generously funded by the Irish Government, the event took place back to back with the meeting of national co-ordinators of the European Charter for Small Enterprise.  An Issue Paper, summarising key features of policies and tools to facilitate enterprise start-ups relevant for SEE, was prepared and circulated in advance of the workshop (see link below). Meanwhile, a proceedings report of the event, recommending specific actions to be undertaken, is currently under preparation and will be circulated in mid-March 2006.

• Agenda
• Issue Paper
• Proceedings Report
• List of Participants
• Presentations
  • Opening Session:
    • Presentation of the Discussion Paper: Selected Policies and Tools to Facilitate Enterprise Development through Start-Up Support, by Ricardo Pinto, Consultant, Stratagem Consulting International

• Session on Financial Instruments to Support New/Small Businesses:
  • How to Make Best Use of Commercial Bank Micro Finance Facilities, by Ms. Francesca Pissarides, Senior Economist, EBRD
  • Micro Finance in Practice: What Can be Learned from the Evolution of Micro Finance Banks , by Ms. Elvira Lefting, Managing Director, Global Development Services
  • Complementary Role of NGO Micro Finance Facilities: Case Stuy on the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia , by Mr. Ilja Belevski, Branch Manager, “Moznosti” Savings House

• Enterprise Restructuring as a Tool to Lessen the Impact of Industrial Restructuring:
  • Sharing European Experiences: Enterprise and Innovation in Deprived Urban Areas, by Ms. Emma Drever, Senior Researcher, Greater London Enterprise
  • Role and Contribution of Business Incubators and Centres for Entrepreneurship: The Osijek Experience, by Professor Slavica Singer, Director, Centre for Development Policy of Small Enterprises