Increasing Serbian Enterprises’ Export Capacity and Trade Linkages
The Serbia Enterprise Development Project (SEDP), a three-year program funded by USAID/Serbia’s Economic Policy and Finance Office under Booz Allen Hamilton’s Support for Economic Growth and Institutional Reform Project (SEGIR), was launched in July 2003 and ended April 2007.
SEDP built upon USAID’s earlier pilot initiative, the Serbian Competitiveness & Economic Efficiency Project (SCEE). It was designed to strengthen domestic and international competitiveness of Serbian enterprises, promote foreign direct investment and build an institutional and legal environment that supports competitiveness. Working closely with the National Competitiveness Council, local businesses, industry leaders and government, ACDI/VOCA helped Booz Allen Hamilton to increase Serbian enterprises’ export capacity and trade linkages.
ACDI/VOCA assisted Booz Allen Hamilton by:
- identifying priority sectors for targeted technical assistance to improve the export capabilities of individual firms and clusters of firms
- managing a list of companies potentially eligible for SEDP assistance
- managing incoming short-term technical assistance provided by industry experts
- coordinating cluster-based export development initiatives
- liaising with foreign direct investment teams in order to identify potential investors or joint venture possibilities for the advancement of assisted sectors’ direction as well as potential investment opportunities in individual companies to target the investment community
- developing and implementing an engagement plan for mobilizing and leveraging resources from the five implementing organizations of the USAID-funded Community Revitalization through Democratic Action (CRDA) program
