Local/Regional Economic Development in South ... - Value Chains

More documents

Recommendations

Info

9 5.3 Cross-Sectoral Instruments for Economic Development – Municipal and Regional Economic Development in Bulgaria Karlheinz Zahn Project background In the opinion of the EU, the Bulgarian economy will only become competitive in the medium term. The basic reasons for the low level of competitiveness lie in the difficulty of financing necessary investments and in the lack of economic-development structures, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. Bulgaria’s accession to the EU will further intensify the competitive situation of the Bulgarian economy. The Economic Development and Employment Promotion Program Bulgaria, implemented by GTZ on behalf of BMZ, was charged with setting up economic development agencies in at least three municipalities through its component Development of Regional and Cross-sectoral Economic Development Instruments. The task of the agencies is to support business start-ups, offer advice and assistance to existing firms, and speed up investment by marketing of the location. Approach Upon application by the oblast (district) administrations of Haskovo, Kardjeli, and Lovetch, contracts were concluded between each of these oblasts and GTZ for the establishment of an economic development center. While there were already organizational units in Haskovo und Kardjali (non-governmental organizations) concerned primarily with regional questions, in Lovetch everything had to be built from the ground up – also with respect to the availability of potential staff members. In the contracts between GTZ and each sponsoring institution in the oblast, a three-year financing plan was laid down, in which local inputs and GTZ inputs are individually listed. Together with GTZ, offices were selected, the costs of which, as well as heating, electricity, and telephone costs, were assumed by the respective sponsoring institutions. GTZ financed the required renovation and equipping of the offices with furniture and necessary infrastructure (server, PCs, printer, laptops, etc.). The contracts also stipulated that a declining percentage of personnel costs would be assumed in the first three years (1st year – 100 %, 2ⁿd year – 50 %, 3rd year – 25 %). Training measures were carried out in all three locations in order to establish the provision of competent economic development services. Staff members were intensively trained in advisory services for business start-ups and SMEs. Thus, various checklists were developed to give staff members something to guide them in advisory situ- ations. The checklists are also useful as guidelines to help training new staff members. Additional training measures included balance sheets and profit and loss analysis, comparison of credit conditions, investment planning, and cash-flow analysis. Corresponding Excel programs were developed, which assisted agency staff members with the work. The advisors also prepared two brochures (guidelines for business start-ups and preparation of business plans), which were available when the centers officially opened. In all three municipalities, training was given on creation of an internet presentation. A structure was developed for this purpose, along the lines normally expected by foreign investors. Impact In all three institutions, the staff members actively and intensively collaborated and made full use of the existing opportunities. It proved to be particularly advantageous that all translations (from English, except in Lovetch, where it was from German) into Bulgarian – brochures as well as checklists – were done by center staff members themselves. This resulted in a fruitful dialogue between the advisor and the staff members, which helped close the gaps in understanding that remained after the training. The development of the center in Kardjeli is particularly gratifying; seven staff members are now working there, although GTZ support has been completed. This agency is not only ISO 9001 certified; it now also offers advisory services on quality management and certification to firms in the region. By way of a quarterly newsletter, the agency maintains contact with firms and associations in the region. Despite the advisory services, it has proven difficult in all three regions to set up a business-related Internet presence, because GTZ was not able to provide the required financing and the funds were not made available by the municipal and regional administrations. Lessons learned As already emphasized at the beginning, SME policy in Bulgaria continues to be uncoordinated and of poor quality, in comparison to the practice in long-time EU countries. Even though this task is emphasized in a number of official government documents, in practice, one detects little support either at the national or regional level.
Although a series of economic development institutions have been set up across Bulgaria with the support of international donor organizations, they are – as experience in other Central and Eastern European countries has also shown – not financially viable, because the diminishing or already exhausted donor funds cannot be (sufficiently) replaced by the largely private sponsoring structures. Perhaps the regional and municipal administrations are of the opinion that such agencies must finance themselves through the sale of their services. This means that these agencies attempt to acquire new donor commissions, thereby necessarily neglecting the original task, that of promoting business start-ups and small and mediumsized firms. Recommendations for similar projects: The main task of the economic development centers should be the support of business start-ups and existing companies in the region. More attention should be paid to strengthening the competitiveness and export capability especially of medium-sized firms. This also includes familiarizing these firms with EU standards. The agencies should see themselves as service providers or intermediaries between firms and the administration. The economic development centers can only continue to exist and achieve their objectives if the public sponsors of these centers are willing to financially support them (out of the public budget). In order to achieve synergy effects, attempts should be made to build a network of economic development centers. There should be an evaluation to determine whether support can be concentrated on such federations. If this succeeds, there must be guarantees that the transferred knowledge is made available to the municipal and regional economic development agencies through flanking training measures. This would increase the multiplier effect of the consulting. Contacts Marieta Paskaleva, GTZ OE 3111 Bulgaria marieta.paskaleva@gtz-bg.com Karlheinz Zahn, Pro-Regio Regional and SME Development Consult karlheinz.zahn@pro-regio.net 95
Page 1 and 2:
Division 311 South-Eastern Europe,
Page 3 and 4:
Preface Promoting region-specific d
Page 5 and 6:
.12 On the Path to a Learning Socie
Page 7 and 8:
IHK Chamber of Commerce and Industr
Page 9:
1 Einführung Introduction 9
Page 12 and 13:
12 tively than working in isolation
Page 14 and 15:
1 1.2 Local/Regional Economic Devel
Page 16 and 17:
16 Local/regional economic developm
Page 19:
The EU Context for 2 Das EU-Umfeld
Page 22 and 23:
22 As was found within the EU, the
Page 24 and 25:
2 The primary reasons for the posit
Page 26 and 27:
26 GTZ also supports regional devel
Page 28 and 29:
28 ern European partner countries G
Page 31 and 32:
3.1 Slovenia - Strengthening the Ma
Page 33 and 34:
3.2 Local/Regional Economic Develop
Page 35 and 36:
Structure formation: If possible, L
Page 37 and 38:
is the Regional Assembly, whose 84
Page 39 and 40:
3. Commercial Land Management - the
Page 41 and 42:
The SEE municipalities and regions
Page 43 and 44: 3.5 Cluster Formation in Austria -
Page 45 and 46: oom in the automotive sector, the S
Page 47 and 48: fore it was essential to provide cl
Page 49 and 50: • have the necessary resources av
Page 51 and 52: Success factors and barriers for cr
Page 53: Regional Economic Development and R
Page 56 and 57: 56 There is a tendency in the admin
Page 58 and 59: 58 assume that there is any basic k
Page 60 and 61: 60 current loan or new loans even b
Page 62 and 63: 62 . Regional Economic Development
Page 64 and 65: 6 .5 Island Development Program Cro
Page 66 and 67: 66 Working with stakeholders at the
Page 68 and 69: 68 propriate and lacking mechanisms
Page 70 and 71: 70 .7 Land and Soil: Valuable Resou
Page 72 and 73: 72 .8 Coastal Protection and Sustai
Page 74 and 75: 7 .9 Economic Development in Bosnia
Page 76 and 77: 76 .10 The Development Corporation
Page 78 and 79: 78 .11 Spatial Planning between Env
Page 80 and 81: 80 .12 On the Path to a Learning So
Page 82 and 83: 82 Results of the information netwo
Page 84 and 85: 8 .13 Industrial Zone Montenegro -
Page 87: Municipal and Local Economic Develo
Page 90 and 91: 90 most of them moved back into the
Page 92 and 93: 92 development process. The direct
Page 96 and 97: 96 5. Municipal Partnerships - Netw
Page 98 and 99: 98 tre. An organizational chart and
Page 100 and 101: 100 GTZ (2003): Kommunale Entwicklu
Page 102 and 103: 102 use of the Great Lake Park and
Page 104 and 105: 10 Advising institutions 1. Restora
Page 106 and 107: 106 5.7 The Business Incubator as a
Page 108 and 109: 108 5.8 Yesterday Electrification,
Page 110 and 111: 110 5.9 Technology-Oriented Busines
Page 112 and 113: 112
Page 115 and 116: 6.1 Cluster-Oriented Assistance Str
Page 117 and 118: 6.2 Automotive Suppliers Cluster in
Page 119 and 120: The analysis of potential was follo
Page 121 and 122: • • • • • • • • Peo
Page 123 and 124: • • • • • • Foreign clu
Page 125 and 126: cluster must be worked out and adop
Page 127 and 128: 6.5 Tourism as the Solution for Poo
Page 129 and 130: Head office Mostar Regional branche
Page 131 and 132: Project outputs Use by intermediari
Page 133 and 134: 6.6 Producer Organizations and Mark
Page 135 and 136: usinesses are unlikely to be in a p
Page 137 and 138: Impact The projects are working acr
Page 139 and 140: 6.8 Public-Private Partnership in A
Page 141: 7 Länderübergreifende Ansätze Tr
Page 144 and 145:
1 Direct support to cross-border co
Page 146 and 147:
1 6 jective of the workshops is to
Page 148 and 149:
1 8 7.3 Agricultural Diversificatio
Page 150 and 151:
150 7. Transnational Exchange of Po
Page 152 and 153:
152 and flexibility is of lesser im
Page 154 and 155:
15 Lessons learned • Detailed and
Page 156 and 157:
156 ordinated with important mediat
Page 158 and 159:
158 further and bring in other SEE
Page 160 and 161:
160 that could have provided advice
Page 162 and 163:
162 Recommended reading MAP - Maced
Page 164 and 165:
16 and employment demands is the fo
Page 166 and 167:
166 InWEnt program (2): “Regional
Page 168 and 169:
168 Specific approach Together with
Page 170 and 171:
170 Development of skills and stand
Page 172 and 173:
172 promotion (PACA in Serbia, loca
Page 174 and 175:
17 Branimir Mirtschev, business man
Page 176:
176
show all

Local/Regional Economic Development in South ... - Value Chains

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?