Geneva, 14 March 2003 - The
Forum on Best Practice in the Development
of Entrepreneurship and Small and
Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) in
Countries in Transition to be held
on 19 March 2003 at the Palais des
Nations, will focus on the experience
of two neighbouring countries: Croatia
and Slovenia. Both countries are successor
States of the former Yugoslavia and
as such have common entrepreneurial
roots.
The aim of this Forum
is to identify the capabilities of
SMEs in stimulating economic growth.
Key emphasis will be placed on the
creation of a business-friendly environment,
including good governance, conducive
to the transformation of society towards
a market economy. Another important
area of focus will be the dissemination
of good practices and provision of
assistance to those countries, which
are lagging behind in the transition
process. Attention will also be drawn
to the special emphasis that needs
to be placed on accelerating the development
of entrepreneurship and the SME sector
in southeast Europe, as well as in
the majority of the Commonwealth of
Independent States.
The Forum will be
co-chaired by the two Permanent Representatives
to the United Nations Office at Geneva
of Croatia and Slovenia, Ambassadors
Cek and Gosnar respectively. Presentations
will be made by a range of high-level
government officials headed by Ms.
Mateja Mesl, M.Sc., Secretary of State,
Ministry of Economy of Slovenia, Mr.
Miljenko Leppee, Assistant Minister,
Ministry of Crafts and SMEs of Croatia
and Ms. Dragica Karaic, Head of Cabinet,
Ministry of Economy of Croatia. These
presentations will be moderated by
prominent experts, including H.E.
Ms. Silvia Ciornei, Minister for SMEs
(Romania), Dr. Péter Szirmai,
Deputy Director, Small Business Development
Center, Budapest University of Economics
and Public Administration (Hungary),
and Dr. Rüdiger Schiller, Director
of DtA - Deutsche Ausgleichsbank (Germany).
UNECE has successfully
organized four similar Forums: on
the Czech and Hungarian Experience
in 1999 and 2000 respectively, followed
by Poland and Belarus in 2001.
For further information
please contact:
Antal Szabó
Regional Adviser on Entrepreneurship
and SMEs
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe
Palais des Nations, Bureau 440
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: + 41(0)22
917 24 71
Telefax: + 41(0)22 917 01 78
E-mail: [email protected]