3rd Regional Competitiveness Conference in Southeast EuropeEnhancing Regional Competitiveness: Past, Present and Future

Przno, Montenegro, May 20 – 22, 2008

Access to EU Funds Access to EU Funds for Agribusiness and Rural for Agribusiness and Rural

Development Development through through

USAID SupportUSAID Support

Cristina Manescu, Cristina Manescu, Executive Director CEED RomaniaExecutive Director CEED Romania

Agenda

• Who we are• Context• Romanian case story • Lessons learned

Power through know-how and networks

Who We AreWho We Are

CEED RomaniaCEED Romania was established by USAID in

collaboration with Small Enterprise Assistance Funds

(SEAF), with the aim to carry out the legacy of USAID in

the area of SME support in Romania and in the South

Eastern European Region.

We are devoted to strengthening entrepreneurship and empowering the leaders of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises with the know-how and networks needed to accelerate business growth and to promote a true entrepreneurial culture throughout South Eastern Europe.

MissionMission

Power through know-how and networks

Where we areWhere we are

Regional CEED Network

•5 active centers in Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Montenegro, and Macedonia

•Partnership with the Russian Center for Entrepreneurship

•Expecting to open NEW centers in Poland and Serbia later in 2008.

Romania

Bulgaria

Macedonia

Montenegro

Slovenia

CEED Model – Three pillars

Business Accelerators

Local SME Local SME Networking Networking

PlatformPlatform

Expanding your Network

to Build your Business

Business Business Training Training ModulesModules

Short Practical Training for Owners and

Key Executives

Market Market Access Access

ForumsForums

Regional -International

Trade & Invest Events

CEED Objectives, Goals, Strategies• Objectives

– Firmly establish CEED as a trusted resource to entrepreneurs within Southeast Europe

– Regionally expand– Create a legacy and build equity for SEAF and USAID

• Goals– Achieve local sustainability within 5-6 years– Raise additional donor support

• Strategies– Provide products and services that help SMEs get access to finance and

expand to new markets– Target those who can afford and value support – Create a ‘community’– Leverage partnerships

Our approach in implementing the CEED model while achieving sustainability goals: 

Consolidation • Through an active presence on the market and our wide network of partners, we

gained recognition, and proved CEED unique / innovative and practical approach.

Expansion of client base• 2800 clients served in 2007, over 3300 since 2006

Diversification of offer• Advisory services / mentoring• Donor funded projects

CEED Romania – Two years of activity

ContextThe Rural Leadership Development Program

in Romania • Run since 2003 under the United States Department of

Agriculture (USDA) Agribusiness and Policy Support Project• New phase started in October 2006.

• Driven by the new need to tackle the new challenges and exploit new opportunities for growth open with Romania’s EU accession.

• RLDP coordinated by CEED continued to assist in attracting financial resources for business and community development in the rural area.

Results• Pilot and repeat training seminars on

“How to access EU Funds for Rural Development” - 13 training events for 29 days of seminars, attended by over 260 participants

• 5 Regional and International workshops attended by over 140 participants

During one year, CEED & RLDP organized 20 local, regional and International events, comprising over 50 days. Over 440 clients have benefit of various forms of training and practical experience for over 1300 person-days.

• Two 8-day study tours to Ireland for 37 participants

• Brochure “Leading Rural Romania from Challenge to Change” prepared and disseminated in 1300 copies

Key actions and eventsTraining seminars on “How to access EU Funds for

Rural Development”

• Intensive, highly interactive and practical• Learning by doing and peer learning • Optimal participant mix: business people, farmers, producers associations, local

consultants, representatives of local authorities• Experts and resource persons from relevant bodies involved in promoting rural / local /

agribusiness development.• Participants prepared their own project outlines

• Int’l Speakers: Tim Woods, Agricultural Economist, University of Kentucky, USA and Brian Milton, Senior Partner, Economic Development and Training Ltd, Ireland.

Key actions and eventsInternational workshop “Practical Experience of the Approaches and Application of EU Structural Funds in Member States”

• Active support from US Embassy, USAID Mission, USDA and RO Govt. representatives

• Practical examples and successful models for agribusiness development and marketing of agri-food products both from the US and Western Europe.

• Active debates on how to apply these models in Romania

OutcomesThe participants gained the know-how that enables access to EU financing:

– Understood key elements governing the EU SF & other financial instruments

• institutions, programming cycle, financing & payment mechanisms; procedures • which projects can be financed from which source

– Exposure to a wide range of successful models (USA and Ireland); – How to set & develop PPPs - a basis for project design, funding and implementation;

– Gained practical skills in project design & management;– Identified areas where they could immediately apply the knowledge

acquired.

Study tours to Ireland• Rich and inspiring experience

• Impressive follow-up actions by participants

• Knowledge spread wider in the RLDP regions

Key actions and events

Visits, discussions andengagements with relevant Govt. bodies – national and local

NGO institutions, producers / processors / farmers co-operatives

Public and private consultants, community development and network organizations.

Study tours to IrelandKey actions and events

Key actions and eventsStudy tours to Ireland

Wide range of projects financed under LEADER+ and other EU funded community support program.

Farms, non-agricultural off-farm businesses, micro-enterprises in rural areas

Small & Medium food processors

Impact• Projects developed and funding attracted:

– 95 outline projects developed by training participants. – 25 projects obtained funding of a total value of Euro 1,770,000.– 13 projects were in the process of evaluation for a total value of Euro 2,657,000

(as of end September 2007).

• International contacts and business development opportunities: • Ms. Hortensia Gorski, Deputy Dean of the Romanian German University in

Sibiu has contacted Tipperary Institute Ireland to initiate a joint higher education programme for rural development.

• Irish business people visited a number of companies in Transylvania to investigate possibilities for business cooperation in areas such as horse breeding and milk processing.

Impact (continued)• Partnership agreements:

– Between private consultants, County Office for Agricultural Consulting (OJCA) Iaşi, World Vision and Community based organizations from Iasi County, North East of Romania.

– The partners have submitted 3 projects.• Exchange of relevant information:

– Many of the participants became an informal network to support rural, local and agribusiness development.

– They are receiving regularly electronic information on relevant aspects. – Access to the rural portal called www.agra.ro managed by SC Pagini Internet SRL

Iaşi – a RFLD client• New project proposals and plans:

– Plan to further strengthen the RDLP rural leaders network under CEED umbrella. Initiatives underway.

– Mr. Calin Nicolae, has prepared a project in support of developing partnerships of producers associations, local authorities and leaders in Oltenia, South West of Romania

Client feedback• “Sincere thanks to the CEED team of trainers. I learned a lot from

you, and I applied what I learned. My company has submitted 9 project proposals to obtain EU finding. I am very proud that I was able to prepare good grant applications. This gives me courage and trust for the future. I would like to establish a long-term cooperation with CEED.” Ruxandra Marcu, Entrepreneur, EURO SB 2000 SRL, Sibiu

• “We learned a lot from you, we gained courage and we are now able to help others. Ion Stuparu, public expert, Oltenia

• “The project has produced excellent long-term effects, and more effects are expected in future. The great gain from the project was that we can now work as a team. We learned the value of teamwork.” Stela Marcu, private consultant, Timisoara

Client feedback• “I was very pleased to have the opportunity to understand how the “Irish

successful model” works. I saw how important it is to have proper project management skills. We must share positive experiences on adequate use of the European funds and adopt successful models.”Adriana ECOBICI, Craiova, Study tour participant

• “The entire study tour was successful and interesting as I had the opportunity to identify new strategies and models that could be applied in Romania”Aurel Simion, Craiova, Study tour participant

Conclusions & Lessons

• Communication among the various actors and groups working together to solve problems - the most useful aspect

• Creation of strong networks and linkages among businesses, consultants, financial institutions, government agencies and programs.

• Demonstrated capacity of entrepreneurs to get financing from financial institutions & donors

• Demonstrated benefits of business consulting services• The only suggestion for improvement was the expansion of the

program. Many interviewees stated that RFLD, because it was so successful, should have been expanded to other counties.

Focus group & final assessment

Keys of successFlexibility:• Administrative procedures and requirements - easy to follow, efficient, not

burdensome. • Open to working with any stakeholders that could supply the enterprises

with the technical and financial support needed.

Capacity building:• Bottom-up approach and empowering local leaders.• Building a community of leaders based on trust and respect relationship.• Power of information sharing and networking.Result oriented approach: • Specific needs and circumstances were considered throughout the whole

project lifetime.• Strategy to partner and leverage resources from other sources.• The approach was well received by rural private sector, government and

donor stakeholders.

Sustainability of skills and know-how transferred: • Beneficiary enterprises and to other stakeholders continued to be in

contact and use skills acquired. • The quality of the services and the tools provided are still well regarded

by the businesses. Increasingly, banks are lending to rural and agricultural businesses.

Thank you

Contact us for any further details:Contact us for any further details:Tel/Fax: (+4021) 313.42.92Tel/Fax: (+4021) 313.42.92GSM: (+40) 740.18.22.57GSM: (+40) 740.18.22.57 www.ceed-romania.org;;cristina.manescu@ceed-romania.org; ; office@ceed-romania.org

Cristina Manescu, Cristina Manescu, Executive Director CEED RomaniaExecutive Director CEED Romania