Technical assistance for improving the economic environment for SMEs and rural businesses in Montenegro

Between March 2010 and August 2012, the Belgian Bankers Academy provided strategic technical assistance to the Ministry of Economic Development and the SMEDA Directorate to:

1. Strengthen dialogue and the regulatory framework

   • Train central and regional teams in public-private dialogue

   • Co-design and implement a code of good practice aligned with the EU acquis

   • Developing training strategies, monitoring and evaluating trade barriers

2. Access to rural finance and SMEs

   • Structuring a credit guarantee fund in line with European standards

   • Developing management procedures, eligibility criteria and performance indicators (number and volume of guarantees, amounts and number of loans)

   • Monitoring of credit crisis phenomena and recommendations for risk mitigation

3. Development of business incubators

   • Support for the existing incubator in Podgorica and extension of the model to the north of the country

   • Methodological support for incubation, mentoring and professionalization of rural entrepreneurs

   
   

At the end of the mission, the guarantee fund was fully operational, national and regional staff had been trained, and the number of rural SMEs with access to credit had increased by 25% in the target areas.