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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:
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Examine the various types of financial and non-financial support schemes that can be made available to stimulate SME development (in particular start-ups);
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Examine methods to ensure enterprise support as a tool to lessen the impact of industrial restructuring;
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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.
- Session on Non-Financial Instruments to Support New/Small Businesses:
- Government Support for Employment Generation: The Role of Active Labour Market Programmes, by Mr. Nick Maddock, Western Balkans Economist, Europe and the CIS Bratislava Regional Centre, UNDP
- Entrepreneurship Learning: Obstacles and Opportunities, by Mr. Anthony Gribben, ESEE Department, European Training Foundation
- Simplified Registration Procedures: One Stop Shop, by Ms. Raluca Martin, Expert, Department of Analysis, Strategies and Policies for SMEs, National Agency for SMEs and Co-operatives, Romania
- Simplified Taxation Policies: Patent Tax, the Moldovan Experience, by Mr. Eugen Osmochescu, Manager, Policy and Regulatory Reform Department, USAID/BIZPRO, Moldova
- Enterprise Restructuring as a Tool to Lessen the Impact of Industrial Restructuring:
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