Europe Day in Belgrade: Entrepreneurial education and business incubation

ATA, a Dutch non-profit foundation active in the Western Balkans, has supported EU Day celebrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, for a number of years, through its “Private Sector Development in the Western Balkans ” project. This year, a big EU Day celebration was held in Belgrade, Serbia, and was organised by the Ministries of Economy and Education and Sports, together with the Serbian Agency for SME Development, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The event was supported by ATA and SINTEF, a Norwegian organisation.

The event was officially inaugurated by the Minister of Economy, Mr. Predrag Bubalo, the Head of the EC Delegation in Serbia, Mr. Josep M. Lloveras, the Ambassador of Norway H.E. Mr. Haakon Blankenborg, the Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of The Netherlands, Mr. Hans Hageman, as well as the Director of the Serbian EU Integration Office, Mrs. Tanja Miscevic (see picture).

The two central topics of the event were “Entrepreneurial education and business incubation – building the knowledge based economies as EU integration milestones”. During the day, there was ample opportunity for discussion and sharing of experiences on both topics between policy makers, professors, business support organisations and other experts from the EU, the USA and the Western Balkan region.

Entrepreneurial education is recognised as a foundation for continuous development of knowledge based economies and as a tool for fostering entrepreneurial attitudes and skills among young people. Speakers from Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and the European Training Foundation pointed out the lack of public awareness of the importance of entrepreneurship education and its inclusion into formal education systems at all levels. They also emphasized the role and importance of informal education as a catalyst for bridging the gap between the labour market needs and formal education.

Business incubators are generally defined as facilities with affordable infrastructure, management expertise, consultancy and other value adding services for start-ups. They are designed to assist businesses to become established and sustainable during their start-up phase. They can also serve as instruments for economic development, by accelerating the growth and success of entrepreneurs. Speakers from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Hungary, Slovakia, the USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, and Macedonia highlighted the importance of business incubation for economic growth and SME development. They also discussed the value of (national) business incubation associations and sought to provide answers on major challenges and pitfalls in their establishment.

The overall aim of the EU Day was (i) to improve knowledge and share new approaches, policies and strategies on entrepreneurial education, (ii) to draw lessons from existing business incubators and business incubator associations in supporting entrepreneurship, and (iii) to create a climate of dialogue and confidence between different actors involved in economic development, along the lines of the European social and economic model.

Conference recommendations will be presented to the European Commission.

Aleksandra Milenkovic Bukumirovic, ATA, Belgrade