The event aimed at presenting how local businesses can become global suppliers, exploring potential collaboration between SMEs and multinational or large domestic companies. The SME HUB Director, Aleksandar Goracinov, briefed attendees on project entry requirements, as well as financing opportunities. Furthermore, he highlighted that SME HUB not only provides significant funds for business transformation, but also for directly connecting local businesses with multinational or large domestic companies.
The panel discussion included Nevenka Jovanovic, director of MPK Trade from Valjevo, and Ivan Stoiljkovic, director of Urban-Technics Valjevo, who discussed challenges faced by SMEs in Serbia. Danijelo Nedic, representative of ZF Serbia, shared experiences of a multinational company, explaining the entire process of entering the supplier base and the substantial benefits arising from the global presence of a Serbian company in the supplier base of a multinational corporation.
The first of four caravans in Serbia received support from OTP Bank, as a project partner, the municipal government of Valjevo, the Development Agency of Serbia, and the Automotive Cluster of Serbia. This event marks the beginning of activities that will contribute to strengthening the competitive position of domestic businesses in the global market.
The SME HUB project, worth over CHF 7 million, is a result of a public-private partnership between the Serbian company ICT Hub and the Swiss Government, represented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The Swiss Government is contributing CHF 6.2 million to this intervention that will be implemented for the next five years by the ICT Hub.