Industrial
Restructuring and Enterprise Development
Major achievements in 2003
UNECE organized the first Land for Development Forum to promote a better understanding
of the role of property rights as a tool for economic growth and identify the
ways that property rights could be made available to the poor. As result of
that event, the Government of the United Kingdom agreed to support the Forum's
programmes to establish special arbitration courts for poor rural workers to
protect their rights. In addition, new property legislation was enacted in
CIS to give new rights to poor people.
UNECE produced the Report on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
in Countries in Transition in 2000-2001. This pioneering document presents
the recent statistics on SMEs, as well as legislation and support measures
for SMEs in countries in transition. The Report attests to the need
to improve the framework regulatory conditions for entrepreneurship
and SMEs in several countries of the region.
UNECE organized the Second Forum of Women Entrepreneurs, gathering
over 250 women entrepreneurs from 28 countries (March). The discussion
at the Forum focused on initiatives and best practices of governments,
private sector and other stake- holders aimed at improving access of
women entrepreneurs to financing and new technologies. It was decided
that, in addition to organizing the biennial Forums of Women Entrepreneurs,
UNECE would support the organization of subregional events, explore
possibilities for organizing training sessions in cooperation with
sub-regional groupings, such as Central European Initiative, Black
Sea Economic Cooperation and Special Programme for the Economies of
Central Asia, and strengthen cooperation with regional commissions,
especially with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP).
The secretariat released the first publication in the series on women
entrepreneurship entitled "Women's Entrepreneurship in Eastern Europe
and CIS Countries." It
overviews trends, major problems and policy issues related to women's
entrepreneurship in countries in transition.
The secretariat produced summary proceedings of the Workshop on Policy
and Regulatory Options for Promoting Industrial Restructuring in
the UNECE Region and the Conference on Innovation as a Vehicle for Industrial
Restructuring, organized under the auspices of the Team of Specialists
on Industrial Restructuring in April. This document, intended for
government decision makers, summarizes the major ideas and proposals put
forward by the participants.
UNECE promotion of the economic dimension of security in Europe
has borne fruit with the decision taken at the OSCE 10 th Ministerial
Council in Porto, on 6-7 December 2002, to renew its commitment
to the economic dimension. In 2003, the secretariat prepared a
report to the OSCE Economic Forum in Prague (May) on the performance
of OSCE participating States in implementing their commitments
to good governance.
Major challenges for 2004
The main challenge in the enterprise development
and restructuring programme will be to contribute
practically to the establishment of the rule
of law, in particular the enforcement of property
rights and contract discipline, in countries in transition. The
improved transparency and accountability of both large and small
enterprises will facilitate the financing of new start-up companies
as well as the modernization of existing enterprises.
UNECE will continue to strengthen its cooperation
with OSCE in establishing an effective conflict
prevention capacity. UNECE is expected to be
given a mandate by the OSCE New Strategy Document
to develop proposals for the establishment of "an early warning
system" in
the economic and environmental dimensions.
In the area of entrepreneurship promotion,
UNECE will focus its work on good governance
for SMEs. As a first step, in 2004 it will
organize an expert meeting on good governance
for small and mediumsized enterprises. The
final objective of this new direction is the
development of guidelines on business ethics
for start-up entrepreneurs.
UNECE will finalize its new recommendations
regarding the establishment of integral management
systems for industrial and services enterprises,
including SMEs.
Poor governance and organized crime in some
parts of UNECE region are a major barrier to
establishing public-private partnerships (PPPs).
The main challenge for the UNECE PPP Alliance
will be to agree on guidelines which could
improve transparency and investor confidence
in PPPs, and develop ways to implement them.
One of the major challenges for the UNECE
Real Estate Advisory Group will be to find
effective practical ways to implement the Land
for Development Programme in particular, to
translate proposals for formalizing property
rights into effective policies. To this end,
of utmost importance will be the development
of a tool kit for governments which will help
identify policies conducive to the practical
use of property rights for development.
In the
context of gender mainstreaming, challenges
will be the organization of a subregional UNECE
Forum of Women Entrepreneurs in Turkey, a Regional
Symposium on Gender Mainstreaming in Economic
Policies, and the preparation for publication of the second volume
in the series on women's entrepreneurship "Women
Entrepreneurs in the ECE Region: Access to Financing and ICT."