USAID Competitiveness Project
17 Dalmatinska Street, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Tel.: +381 11 2769 464; Fax: +381 11 32 92 024
office@compete.rs
USAID Agribusiness project
57 Internacionalnih brigada Street, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Tel.: +381 11 243 66 11
Fax +381 11 344 53 63
office@agrobiznis.net
http://www.agrobiznis.net/english/
United States Agency for International al Development (USAID) launched a four-year Competitiveness Project in October 2007 to promote economic growth by substantially increasing the competitiveness of Serbian SMEs in leading sectors to increase sales, exports, investment and jobs.
Based on the findings from a study of 12 sectors in Serbia, the Project identified sectors with the greatest potential to compete in international markets: ICT, tourism, film and production, construction services and building materials, auto parts, wood processing and furniture, and renewable energy. The Project reinforces the competitiveness of sectors through policy reforms, workforce development, and communications efforts.
The Project is undertaking both transactional and transformational activities to meet these objectives. Transactional activities include targeted sales and marketing efforts, such as trade shows, market research, and B2B meetings, while transformational activities seek to enhance the long-term competitiveness of a sector, such as supporting firms to attain international certifications and standards; building industry groups/associations to advocate on behalf of a sector; implementing workforce development initiatives that build technical skills and international branding efforts to increase awareness of the benefits of investing in Serbia.
The goal of the USAID Agribusiness Project is to increase the value of Serbian agricultural product sales and to increase employment in the agricultural sector. This will be achieved by increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of environmentally responsible agribusiness enterprises in the identified sectors and by helping these enterprises take advantage of emerging opportunities in domestic, regional and international markets. Assistance geared towards the identified six sub-sectors is complemented by efforts to help improve the overall enabling environment for agribusiness in Serbia. On the basis of detailed analysis, the project operates with the following six sectors: berries, dairy industry, aromatic herbs, spices and mushroom, stockbreeding, fruit and vegetable growing.
Creating business associations and connections throughout the production chain in order to solve common problems, to improve key technologies and develop the Serbian "brand" for export markets, the manufacturers will enhance their competitiveness and ability to enter into the most dynamic areas of development. Both projects will help producers in Serbia to improve their companies with the ultimate goal of creating more jobs and better jobs for the workforce in Serbia.
The two projects, which together are worth nearly $ 39 million, are financed with the support of the American people.