BELGRADE, November 16th, 2016 - On Wednesday, the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM), DNA Communications, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and representatives from the Government of Serbia marked the closure of the ‘New Beginning’ Project and celebrated its successes, influences, and Serbia’s entrepreneurial spirit. 

The New Beginning Project is a 22-month project supporting Serbia’s entrepreneurship initiatives.  The Project presented 200 entrepreneurial initiatives at Entrepreneurship Fairs in 11 cities and regions in Serbia – Nis, Krusevac, Subotica, Sombor, Kragujevac, Leskovac, Uzice, Belgrade, Cacak, Valjevo and Novi Pazar. The Fairs provided citizens with investment ideas, lectures, and relevant information about entrepreneurship. The Project was implemented in collaboration with ENECA, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Regional Chambers of Commerce, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, the National Employment Agency, the Development Agency of Serbia and numerous local organizations.

The U.S. Ambassador to Serbia, Kyle Scott, noted he was especially pleased to see that this Project was supported by such a large number of national and local organizations, working together to raise awareness about entrepreneurship in Serbia. “Over the past 15 years, the United States through USAID has invested more than $350 million to stimulate economic growth in Serbia. During Serbia’s “Year of Entrepreneurship”, the United States is especially proud to contribute to the Government of Serbia’s efforts to support entrepreneurial development as a key driver of sustainable economic growth”, he emphasized.

“We were very pleased to visit 11 towns all over Serbia in the past year to raise awareness of entrepreneurship, and we hope that our fairs provided additional motivation to small entrepreneurs to enter the business world," said Jelena Bulatovic, SAM Executive Director.

Dejan Randjic, Director of DNA Communications said, "In the past year, great energy has been invested in this Project and we would like to thank everyone who contributed to its implementation. Experience shows that Serbia has a great potential for development of entrepreneurship and economic development, that the citizens of Serbia are very interested in entrepreneurship and that awareness of entrepreneurship in Serbia is at a higher level than it was a few years ago".