Members of the Project and Cross-Border Advisory Team within „Newly established Start-up Enterprise SERvices“ – NESESER project participated in the “Exchange of experiences and good practices with similar business centers and incubators” from September 11 to 15, 2023 in BiH, Croatia and Serbia.
The study visit and exchange of experiences and good practices with similar business centers and incubators is one of the key project activities envisaged within NESESER project. NESESER is project is implemented within the framework of the IPA program of cross-border cooperation Serbia – Bosnia and Herzegovina, co-financed by the European Union, and is implemented by the Development – Guarantee Fund of the Brcko District of BiH, the City of Loznica and the Institute for Development and Innovation – IDI.
In this manner, Joint Project Manager Ms. Indira Muharemović stated that the activity was one of the rare opportunities for the public sector, businessess and CSOs representatives to learn more about the work of most successful business centers and incubators in Mostar, Banja Luka, Osijek, Vinkovci and Novi Sad.
“We started our exchange of experiences and good practices with similar business centers and incubators with a visit to the Technology Park INTERA Mostar, whose management introduced us to their successes. The serve the companies that include: training for the management of CNC machines, renting out coworking space, education and the like. The industries and activities on which the focus is placed are technological activities, as well as a part of technological activities related to the IT industry and digital marketing”, explained Ms. Muharemović.
According to Ms. Muharemović, the exchange of experiences and good practices with similar business centers and incubators continued with a visit to the ICBL Banja Luka Innovation Center, registered as a foundation and functioning as an umbrella organization for several incubators. The ICBL works on informal education, organizing events and conferences, and project management. The educations they perform are on the topics of female entrepreneurship, digital marketing, agile management, B2B, financial incubator, IT retraining, business planning, and influencer marketing, which has yet to be put into practice.
During the tour, the team visited a Business Incubator BIOS Osijek as well, registered as a limited liability company, but equipped entirely from European Union funds. The services provided by the incubator, with a capacity of 100 users, are the following: rental of space, consulting services and business planning, IT sector support, coworking space rental, and various services in the innovation laboratory to its tenants. The participants of the study visit got acquainted with the services that this incubator provides to its tenants in the domain of lower costs, subsidizing the rental price and supporting the development of technological solutions. A visit to the Business Incubator Vinkovci, which is registered as a limited liability company, functions mainly by being financed by the City of Vinkovci. In addition to renting out space on very acceptable terms, they are responsible for holding various educations and implementing various projects. The tenants’ activities are in the fields of design, digital marketing, construction, alternative medicine and the IT industry. The share in the incubator is 12 female entrepreneurs and 17 male entrepreneurs.
At the end of the trip, the participants got acquainted with the work of the Novi Sad Business Incubator, which was founded as a non-profit organization, and whose financing includes the coverage of operating costs from public funds. This incubator provides tenants with the use of space, consulting, services of an accounting agency, legal advice, pre-incubation, guidance on other programs.
Summarizing the entire study trip, Project Development Manager Mr. Siniša Borota from City of Loznica pointed out that the study visit was very effective and of great importance for the members of the project team. In particular, he stated that the acquired skills and the exchange of knowledge by representatives of business incubators were crucial for establishing the basis for the future formation of two business incubators, one in the Brčko District of BiH and the other in the City of Loznica.
“Each representative of the business incubator educated the members of the project team in all the ways in which different types of business incubators from the selected locations were formed and functioned as an organization. Newly acquired knowledge that until now members of the project team did not possess is reflected, among other things, in getting to know the different types of services that business incubators provide to their tenants and other interested parties. The success of the study visit is evaluated, and based on examples of good practice, all the necessary competences for the formation of business incubators in the two selected locations were acquired,” said Borota.