The Project aims to enhance capacity of SMEs to improve their quality and competitiveness, which would facilitate their access to the EU market. Different export-oriented training programme, in the form of a series of workshops conducted/replicated in different locations across the country, will be implemented by international experts with the participation of the selected BDS providers and national consultants, to build capacities among a larger number of local SMEs and entrepreneurs on quality and export requirement compliance and business-oriented subjects. SMEs will be provided by national and international experts in cooperation with Business Development Services (BDS) providers serving the target value chains.
The project will also assist selected SMEs to realize export opportunities (pilot application). As part of the tailored technical assistance to SMEs, an assessment of the selected SMEs will be carried out by experts to identify SMEs’ capacities, product export potential, particularly for the EU market, and needs to meet export-market requirements will be analyzed to identify bottlenecks and recommend areas of intervention in order for the SME to be able to export. Areas to be assessed may include: external sources of competitiveness; product markets and positioning; managerial skills and social aspects; technical capacities and quality; and financial performance. Based on the assessments, upgrading strategies with priorities and remedial actions for each beneficiary SMEs will be developed by experts with the participation of the selected BDS providers and national consultants (following an on-the-job training approach) and agreed with SME management. Best strategies will be selected in accordance with the comparative advantage of the enterprise and the most cost-effective way to improve their quality and competitiveness.