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

Development Associates, Inc.A. GENERAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND TRAININGBackground for General Business Development Services: business and action plans, enterpriseaccounting and management support, marketing plans, trade and investment.There is a great deal to be considered in assessing the activities of the general businessdevelopment services of KBS. This set of activities was the original project charter andcontinues to be an important component of the project. The team set about to understand whathas been accomplished, compared to the targets for the impact of assistance to enterprises inKosovo. Interviews with KBS staff were supplemented by visits to over 15 KBS clients and asurvey, conducted among 20 KBS core clients, assessing the impact of each specific service andproviding formal customer feedback. KBS searched its extensive database for information thathad not previously been extracted or reported in the way requested. Combining these data sets,the team was able to understand enough to make reasonable assessments of the project’scontribution to the development of Kosovo. Our draft report was reviewed by USAID/Kosovo.Detailed responses to questions raised by Mission Review are inserted within the body of thetext, while two overarching questions are answered in the final section of the report.Implementation1. General factors affecting economic development assistanceThe circumstances of Kosovo in 2000 were, if not unique, then highly unusual in the field ofdevelopment assistance. The activities of KBS must be considered in the context in which theywere delivered. The surrounding environment, the socio-political situation and the economicpolicies and initial internal sophistication of the targeted sectors play a large part in determiningthe type of support needed and its impact on the targeted beneficiary.In the case of the nascent private sector economy of Kosovo, the starting competitive position ofthe private companies, the institutional and business environment and the overall politicalsituation played an important factor in the shaping of their future development. 4 Shown beloware the main factors, in addition to the general economic and institutional environment, that playan instrumental part in determining the type of private sector needed and the affect of suchassistance on the ability of private enterprises to generate economic growth and create jobs.2. Initial starting position of the private companiesUntil the late 80s, most of the SOEs in Kosovo existed as independent entities and had a highdegree of self-governance. This relative economic freedom was largely taken away during theearly 90s, when most of them were absorbed into other enterprises from Serbia proper. The4 The most influential determinant is the existing legal, financial and institutional environment:• Economic situation and future outlook;• Existence of well developed financial networks providing affordable access to different financing – shortterm,trade, investment, leasing;• Legal environment, rule of law, ownership rights protection, red tape; and• Institutional framework, certification, testing, quality control, standards, fair practices, enforcement.Those have been well addressed in recent evaluations and will not be covered here.Evaluation of the USAID/Kosovo SME 5 May 2004and Agriculture/Agribusiness ProgramsVolume I