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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Implementation of Export Development Programme gets off the ground

Belgrade, 13 May 2004

Director of the Serbian Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SIEPA) Jasna Matic presented today the 14 companies which received the first tranche of non-repayable aid under the Export Development Programme, totalling €150,000.

The Serbian Export Market Development Assistance Scheme (SEMDAS) is a programme which aims to improve marketing activities of domestic export-oriented companies, which will in turn increase the competitiveness of these companies' products on the European market. The programme will be implemented by SIEPA, with the financial assistance from the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR). The total amount of the non-repayable aid to be allocated to the companies stands at €1.14 million.

Matic told a press conference that 30 Serbian companies applied for the non-repayable aid. The 14 companies selected in the first round received an average between €10,000 and €11,000. They specialise in food production, manufacture of electric machines and devices, textile, construction materials, clothing and footwear. These companies employ between 25 and 1,000 workers.

EAR representative Christos Gofas said that export is a very important for Serbia, and therefore the country must develop an approach to the market economy in its industrial development. He said that SEMDAS is a programme aimed at improving companies' export infrastructure and raising the quality of their products. Serbian firms must have more frequent contacts with foreign companies so that they could have easier access to foreign markets.

Director of the Export Promotion Sector Irena Posin said that funds approved under the SEMDAS programme can cover up to 50 percent of a company's expenditure. A firm can be allocated the minimum of &5,000 and the maximum of €50,000. She said that one company can apply for the assistance more than once, but the total amount allocated to one firm cannot exceed €50,000.

Posin specified that eligible applicants are private production companies which employ more than 25 workers and export their products, or plan to do so, as well as design offices and companies specialising in computer software development which employ at least four workers. Other firms which not meet the above criteria can apply only through trading companies which represent them abroad, added Posin.

She said that the application documentation can be found on the Agency's official web site www.siepa.sr.gov.yu, as well as at Export Promotion Sector's premises, where the applicants can have free consultations with the Agency's specialist teams.