2.1. Improvement of technologies and management in enterprises

A major operation under this theme will be to support enterprises for investments in modern tangible and intangible assets, aiming at improvement of their business performance and expanding their operations, improving management, introducing new products, services or processes for the company, entering new or expanding on existing markets, etc. Special attention will be paid to enterprises purchasing and introducing innovative technologies.
Another type of actions to be supported, will be SMEs' projects aiming at achieving compliance with internationally recognised market standards – introduction of quality management systems (QMS), EMAS, IT based management systems, GMP, etc.
Actions aiming at introduction of energy saving technologies, as well as for utilisation of renewable energy resources by enterprises will also be supported.

A network of Business Support Organizations (BSOs) will be created and its operation supported. The BSOs network will include entrepreneurship support institutions and will provide a wide range of information and consultancy services to SMEs, both start-ups and existing ones. Services to be provided by the BSOs members, will include basic business consultancy on starting up and running a business, such as business planning, marketing, financial management, legal advise, etc., as well as specialised information and support services related to sector-specific acquis compliance, including environment protection, export-related matchmaking services, etc. The BSOs members will also play an important role as local info and promotion points for OP "Competitiveness" itself, as well as for assisting SME applicants in preparing their project proposals. A high standard of services provided by the BSOs will be ensured through setting high requirements  for wish-to-be members and applying a competitive selection procedure. The BSOs network will have a limited number of members in a way to ensure locally accessible but still high-quality range of services. The actions to be financed under this operation will include preparation and implementation of new service packages for enterprises – both general and specialized, development and maintenance of standards for service provision by network of business support institutions and standards of practice for the member institutions, investment necessary for proper functioning of the BSOs, building up and /or development of thematic business support databases, etc. The operating costs of BSOs network members will be financed against services actually delivered to SMEs.
In order to provide an integrated assistance to enterprises in their initial stage of development, regionally-based Business incubators will be supported to serve as a specific "infrastructural extension" of BSOs network.

2.3. Promotion of business networking and clustering

The advantages of business networking and clustering are largely recognized in the modern economy, as means for improving production and marketing performance of enterprises through synergy effect, economy of scale and improved access to innovations.
Cluster concept covers a variety of different business structures - national-regional-cross-border clusters, clusters of competence, industrial or production systems and innovation systems. It is used for different purposes - to increase the competitiveness of SMEs, to support collective research, to rationalise a whole industry, and to implement environment management system. The cluster has a positive influence on: competitiveness and innovation, skill formation and information, growth and long-term business dynamics. Clusters by their nature are demand driven, with companies acting in their own best interests.
Taking into account the complex nature of clusters, support actions will have an integrated character comprising of support to common cluster activities (related to cluster management and to common cluster investment needs), as well as aid to individual cluster members (including consultancy, investment and training).

BENEFICIARIES