Year: 2022.
Event Serbia's SMEs 2030: MSP100 Expo was held on June 1, 2022, in MIND Park in Kragujevac, with the aim of highlighting the development potential of the domestic economy embodied in the carefully selected MSP100, leading SMEs in Serbia and small and medium-sized enterprises by international standards. This event was an opportunity for empowerment and mutual inspiration, discussion and networking, and the initiation of projects that will support the development of SMEs and direct their strength towards achieving goals for the entire society.
Short report: Serbia's SMEs 2030: MSP100 Expo,
First, we take this opportunity to warmly thank the Ambassador of Germany, Thomas Schieb, as well as the Ambassador of Switzerland, Urs Schmid, who came to Kragujevac to view and open the exhibition with words of encouragement for the effort to gather and hear the voice of leading entrepreneurial businessmen.
Furthermore, you can watch the recording on YouTube panel 1 (slightly truncated, due to technical issues at the very beginning) where participants pointed out that „hidden champions“ play an extremely important role in the development of a powerful industrial country like Germany, and that it is important for hidden champions to be heard, not to remain hidden, because in this way interest from young people in employment outside large urban agglomerations can be stimulated – where Champions are more frequent employers. We also heard that in Ireland, a country known for its success in attracting quality foreign investors, there is also a separate state agency dedicated to the development of SMEs and their internationalization. Finally, we heard that in Slovenia, hidden champions have organized into the „Slovenian business club,“ and in this way have ensured that their voice is heard very clearly and loudly when public policies are made.
Then, at three round tables (which were difficult to interrupt for lunch!) a list of proposed initiatives was discussed, which you can still find at the following link. These initiatives will be updated in accordance with the discussion and will replace the text of the proposals by the end of the week.
At the second, final panel 2, we heard that there are already some reform efforts moving in the direction of the proposed initiatives. Among the most interesting, we highlight the words of Mr. Čadež, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (PKS), who believes that the time has come to establish a truly independent and strategically positioned development bank in Serbia. He also announced greater efforts to adapt teaching profiles in Serbia to the needs of the economy. From Mr. Miljan Ždrale, EBRD Director for the Southeast and Central Europe region, we heard that it is indeed an anomaly that Serbia does not support export guarantees in any way, as well as about the importance and possibilities of further developing the capital market, which in neighboring countries offers far more opportunities for financing their SMEs. From the Assistant Minister, Ms. Obradović, we heard how important it is for the economy to propose very concrete proposals, and that there is a website „Preduzetništvo“ (Entrepreneurship) which can now be used to inform about everything the state is doing to support SMEs.
Finally, the event concluded with a very inspiring panel – a conversation that our celebrated journalist Jelena Zorić had with Rade Šerbedžija and Dragan Bjelogrlić (who need no introduction) about how film and culture can go hand in hand with entrepreneurship. On the website in the gallery, you can see photos from the conference, and we will continue to publish conference materials on CEVES channels.
Once again, we owe gratitude to the Platform «Sustainable Development for All,» implemented by GIZ with the support of the governments of Switzerland and Germany, without which this event would not have been possible, as well as to MIND Park for recognizing the idea and believing in it from the beginning, providing support during the preparation period. We are also grateful to the Embassy of Slovenia in Belgrade for additional support and to the media partners: NIN, Nova Ekonomija, E-Kapija, Diplomacy&Commerce.
The document resulting from a year-long dialogue with representatives of SMEs and other stakeholders, as well as the conference „Serbia 2030: MSP100 EXPO,“ can be viewed here.
For more information, you can visit the official website MSP 100.
You can see video recordings of the conference panels on our YouTube channel.
