Evaluation of the USAID-Kosovo SME and Agriculture - Economic ...

Development Associates, Inc.KOSOVO BUSINESS SUPPORT PROJECT (KBS)KBS TASK ORDER HISTORYKBS Task Order # PCE-I-806-97-00015-00 was signed with Chemonics International, Inc. undera SEGIR umbrella contract with USAID in October 2000, to end on September 30, 2002. KBSwas to be complementary to the Kosovo Business Finance Project, contracted to Deloitte-Touche-Tohmatsu Emerging Markets, Ltd. and initiated in May 2001. The co-positioning of twoprojects, business development services and loan financing, was earlier used by USAID inBosnia Herzegovina. The cooperation between the two projects was strong in the early monthsand years, particularly where co-located in a minority area. Collaboration between the twoprojects was mainly evidenced by KBS referring 20 enterprise clients each month to KBF forloan consideration.The project was initiated under the then Mission (2001-2003) Strategic Objective 1.3Establishment of an Economic Policy and Institutional Framework that Facilitates the Recoveryand Expansion of the Private Sector-Led Economy, and Intermediate Results 1.3.5 An ExpandedFormal Small and Medium Enterprise Sector. The original Task Order called for the delivery ofgeneral business services to Small and Medium-scale (SME) enterprise, excluding retail andstart-ups. As begun, there were three types of professional teams, each headed by at least oneexpatriate:General business development team;Accounting and finance team; andMarketing team.The project was headquartered in Pristina and offered two different types of business services:individual enterprise consulting and broadly-based business services training.Beginning in July 2001 a short-term consultant, Debra Walhberg, conducted a study of Tradeand Investment services (T&I). She became the project’s third Chief of Party, in March 2002.By November 2001, the fourth KBS team, Trade and Investment, was operational. In February2002, KBS, at the direction of USAID, opened an office in one of the Serb minority areas ofKosovo, located at Zvecan, which included representatives from the KBF project. This locationhas included, from its inception, an international expatriate as a Business DevelopmentSpecialist. From Zvecan, KBS served minority businesses throughout Kosovo with a team oflocal Kosovar Serb relationship managers.In July 2002, the Agribusiness Development and Competitiveness Modification #7 was signed,adding funds and specifying directed assistance to selected product lines within agriculture andagribusiness. It called for an assessment leading to a Work Plan to identify 3-5 product lines(also called sub-sectors) to be supported. This modification extended KBS through December2002. A subsequent modification extended the Task Order through September 2003.Also in August and September 2002, at the direction of USAID, KBS opened two satelliteoffices in minority areas, Strpce and Lapjle Selo, where KBS had been working but did not havean on-the-ground presence.Evaluation of the USAID/Kosovo SME 3 May 2004and Agriculture/Agribusiness ProgramsVolume I