November 8, 2007
Embassy of the United States of America
Belgrade

USAID Mission Director to Visit U.S. Assistance Projects In South Serbia

Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission for Serbia and Montenegro, Michael Harvey will be visiting U.S. assistance projects in South Serbia on November 8th and 9th. In addition to visiting projects and businesses that benefited from assistance provided by the American people, he will be meeting with the Mayors of Vranje and Bujanovac, representatives of the Coordination Body for Southern Serbia, the Economic Enabling Group of Presevo and Bujanovac, USAID project implementers and local partners to discuss assistance issues in the region.

The United States, through USAID, has been providing assistance in Southern Serbia since 2001. Through the Community Revitalization through Democratic Action (CRDA) program, 1166 CRDA projects were undertaken in 144 communities in eastern and southern Serbia. This $200+ million civil society program was implemented Serbia-wide using community development activities to mobilize people to make concrete improvements in their quality of life, by promoting economic development and building trust between citizens and local authorities.

USAID’s Economic Security program is now helping micro- and small enterprises in the region to improve their operations, increase production and sales and to expand to new markets to help create new jobs for the people of the region. The program was initiated in areas of central, south western and southern Serbia where there is high unemployment and a lack of adequate and accessible resources to help people to adapt in the transition process towards a market economy. As a first stage of this program, a business plan competition was held to identify local businesses with growth potential and assist new entrepreneurs. Local business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs submitted more than 550 concept papers. The best 135 concepts were accepted to be submitted as full business plans. USAID then provided training courses in business plan preparation focusing on overall business planning. After the training, entrepreneurs submitted their plans, and a panel of independent judges chose the best business plans. Four plans from both Preševo and in Bujanovac were selected as winners. The Tobler Company of Preševo, which now builds metal scaffolding and the Razvitak Dairy in Bujanovac are two companies that have received assistance to expand their businesses.

Journalists interested in visiting these companies with the USAID Mission Director on Thursday, November 8th should contact Aleksandar Iljenko (065 237 1320). Journalists should be at the Tobler company by 14.20 and/or at the Razvitak Dairy by 15.00. For more information about USAID’s projects, please visit http://serbia-montenegro.usaid.gov.

USAID Mission Director Michael Harvey with Vranje’s Mayor Miroljub Stojcic. Photo FoNet

Direktor misije USAID-a Majkl Harvi i predsednik opštine Vranje Miroljub Stojčić. Foto FoNet

Staff of American Corner in Vranje meet USAID Mission Director. Photo FoNet

Osoblje Američkog kutka u Vranju sa direktorom USAID-a. Foto FoNet

8. novembar, 2007
Ambasada Sjedinjenih Američkih Država
Beograd

Direktor misije USAID-a posetiće projekte u južnoj Srbiji koji su ostvareni uz pomoć SAD

Direktor misije Američke agencije za međunarodni razvoj (USAID) u Srbiji i Crnoj Gori, Majkl Harvi će 8. i 9. novembra posetiti projekte u južnoj Srbiji koji su ostvareni uz pomoć SAD. Pored posete projektima i preduzećima koja su imala koristi od pomoći američkog naroda, gospodin Harvi će o pitanjima vezanim za međunarodnu pomoć u regionu razgovarati i sa predsednicima opština Vranje i Bujanovac, predstavnicima Koordinacionog tela za južnu Srbiju, Radnom grupom za ekonomski razvoj Preševa i Bujanovca, izvršnim partnerima USAID-a i lokalnim partnerima.

Sjedinjene Američke Države, preko USAID-a, pružaju pomoć regionu južne Srbije od 2001. godine. U istočnoj i južnoj Srbiji je, u okviru programa Revitalizacija zajednica demokratskim delovanjem (CRDA), realizovano 1166 projekata u 144 zajednice. Ovaj program razvoja građanskog društva koji je vredan više od 200 miliona dolara i realizovan u čitavoj Srbiji je kroz razvoj zajednica angažovao građane na konkretnom unapređenju kvaliteta života, promovisanju ekonomskog razvoja i izgradnji poverenja između građana i lokalne vlasti.

USAID-ov program Jačanja ekonomske sigurnosti trenutno pomaže malim i mikro preduzećima u regionu da poboljšaju svoje poslovanje, povećaju proizvodnju i prodaju i da se prošire na nova tržišta sa ciljem otvaranja novih radnih mesta za ljude iz ove regije. Program je počeo da se realizuje u centralnoj, jugozapadnoj i južnoj Srbiji gde je visoka stopa nezaposlenosti i nema adekvatnih i lako dostupnih resursa koji bi omogućili lakši proces tranzicije ka tržišnoj ekonomiji. U prvoj fazi programa, organizovan je konkurs za biznis planove kako bi se prepoznala lokalna preduzeća sa potencijalom za razvoj i kako bi se pomoglo novim prevrednicima. Vlasnici lokalnih preduzeća i oni koju planiraju da otvore svoje preduzeće podneli su 550 nacrta biznis planova. Najboljih 135 nacrta je prihvaćeno i razrađeno u konkretne biznis planove. USAID je zatim obezbedio obuku za pripremu biznis planova koja je bila usmerena na planiranje poslovanja. Preduzetnici su, po završetku obuke, podneli svoje planove i žiri je odabrao najbolje. Četiri plana iz Preševa i Bujanovca su izabrana kao najbolji. Kompanija Tobler iz Preševa koja pravi metalne skele i Mlekara Razvitak iz Bujanovca su dva preduzeća koja su kroz ovaj program dobila sredstva za proširenje poslovanja.

Novinare koji su zainteresovani da sa Direktorom misije USAID-a posete ova preduzeća u četvrtak, 8. novembra molimo da se obrate Aleksandru Iljenku (065 237 1320). Novinari bi trebalo da budu u Kompaniji Tobler u 14:20h i/ili u Mlekari Razvitak u 15:00h. Za više informacija o projektima USAIDa, molimo vas da posetite http://serbia-montenegro.usaid.gov.

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