The final Conference of the project „Increasing compettiveness of SMEs and enhancement of cross border links in metal industry EUMETAL 2“ was held in Uzice, in the Small stage premises of the National Theater on Thursday, November 20th, 2014.
The Conference was attended by all the main actors – participants in the project, representatives of SMEs, representatives of local authorities, associations, a representative of the National agency for regional development, a representative of operational structures, a head of the JTS , and they all adressed the audience by delivering the respective speeches.
The objective of the Conference was to introduce the achieved results of the project which was implemented during 21 months. Also, the certificates were granted to the workers who finished successfully 5 training modules organized by the Technical school in Pozega, as a result of the project activities.
In the introductory part of the Conference, a welcome speech in the name of the host city was delivered by Mr Milan Vitic, a member of the City Council in charge of economy, who spoke about a metal sector as a core of Zlatibor area economy development.
„Presence at international fairs in Hanover and Paris for the companies from metal sector which were involved in the project titled EUMETAL 2 was of exceptionally high importance as it was an excellent opportunity for making contacts with potential partners, financial institutions, as well as for promotion of products and services“- said the mayor of Pozega municipality, Mr Milovan Micovic.
A special focus was on CBC program Serbia – Bosnia and Herzegovina. Mr Nemanja Nesic, the head of the JTS, spoke about the decrease of negative effects of a border as an administrative, legal and physical barrier of one area and about the needs of partnership and cooperation.
It is very important for companies to recognize the significance and need to associate and to have a joint presentation in international markets. By registering the metal industry cluster of Western Serbia named WEST METAL GROUP, the project sustainability has been provided. The National agency for regional development suppports cluster initiatives every year, said Mr Vladimir Jovanovic, an assistant director to the National agency for regional development and he pointed out that there would be provided a financial support for this newly-established cluster.
Mr Milos Jankovic, the representative of the metal industry cluster of Western Serbia gave the answers to the questions related to chances and perspectives of clustering and what is to be done in order to create the bases for sustainability of the project and continuation of the activities on the metal sector upgrading and improvement.
The project „Increasing compettiveness of SMEs and enhancement of cross border links in metal industry EUMETAL 2“ was implemented within EU CBC program Serbia – Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its objective was to assist the development of SMEs from the metalworking sector in the border area of Serbia – Bosnia and Herzegovina. The total value of the project is EUR 365.432. The project leaders are the Sarajevo regional development agency SERDA d.o.o. and the Zlatibor regional development agency d.o.o. Uzice. The project partners are the Ministry of economy of Sarajevo canton (B&H) and the National agency for regional development (the Republic of Serbia).
