ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partners for Investment Promotion Partnership Scheme Kick-off meeting Belgrade, 4-5 December 2008

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY The background - FDI in the Western Balkans A growing market of over 150 mln consumers; close to EU, low labour costs, competent workforce… but… The gap btw potential & actual FDI goes as high as 82% in BA (2003 IMF study) FDI net inflows (EUR mln) Source: OECD AL BA HR MK ME RS

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Introduction EUROCHAMBRES  Organisation & Objectives  Focus on Enlargement CASE EU-Turkey Chambers Forum Partners for Investment Promotion

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partners for IP - Overview Project launched: May 2008 Beneficiary countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, fYRoM, Montenegro, Serbia Total budget: ca € (CARDS 2005 Regional) Duration: 18 months Organisation: ECH (Leader) + 6 partners + EU & W.B. Chambers involved in the partnership scheme

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY The precedent: PARTNERS ( ) Duration: 2 years Budget: EUR 2.15 Mio Results: Chamber staff trained 2.2 studies on the state of regional competitiveness (2,000+ companies each year) 3.15 Partnerships EU-W. Balkan Chambers 4.25 scholarships for Eurochambres’ Academies 5.Excellent visibility!

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY I.EU-Western Balkan Chamber partnerships (clusters)  II.Survey on FDI obstacles  III.EUROCHAMBRES Academies Participation Partners for IP - Components

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY I. Chamber partnerships 8 clusters of EU and Western Balkan Chambers Focusing on FDI-promotion areas (tourism, food & beverages, renewable energies…) Duration: 10 months Average budget: € Participation of relevant public authorities / local actors

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships - interest 28 WB CCIs interested in participating 36 EU CCIs interested in participating

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships - Overview Serbian Chamber of Commerce  Economic Chamber of (fYR of) Macedonia  Chamber of Economy of Montenegro PROMOS Milan CCI  Czech Chamber of Commerce Kikinda regional CCI  Unsko-Sanski Canton Chamber PROMOFIRENZE Florence CCI  Trencin CCI CCE - Karlovac  Rijeka  Split County ChambersBilbao CCI  Liverpool CCI Zagreb Chamber  Sarajevo Canton ChamberUdine Chamber of Commerce  VOKA CCI West Flanders CCI Republika Srpska  Chamber of Economy Vojvodina Gipuzkoa CCI  Mälardalen & East Sweden Chambers of Commerce Economic Chamber of (fYR of) Macedonia  UCCIAL Special Agency Aries Trieste CCI  Union of Hellenic Chambers Kragujevac CCI  Tirana CCILeipzig CCI Economic Chamber of Zenica Doboj Canton  CCE - Sisak County Chamber  Niš Regional Economy Chamber Sheffield CCI  Oviedo CCI

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships – Timeline Beg. Nov. 08 ► confirmation & guidelines Mid-end Nov. 08 ► inception visits & action plans 4-5 Dec. 08 ► kick-off meeting Dec. 08 ► partnership agreements (ECH + 1 EU CCI/partnership) Dec. 08 – mid-Sep. 09 ► implementation of AP activities Oct 09 ► final reports (tech. + fin’l) Nov. 09 ► final event / presentation of results

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships – Eligible costs 1.Fees  Real salary costs  Co-financing 2.DSA  Forfeit base 3.Travel  Not local travel  Economy flight tickets 4.Office costs/consumables  Monthly contribution

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships – Financial rules (I) EC financial rules apply 1 EU CCI in charge of collecting & verifying all doc.s/invoices Advance payment (ECH to 1 EU CCI) = 50% of requested grant Balance settlement after EC final payment

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships – Financial rules (II) Requests for payment (1 EU CCI only): Use rfp template prepared by ECH Print it on the letterhead of your Chamber CCI full bank account details

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships – Financial rules (III) Supporting doc.s:  Contract + annual salary sheet + other remuneration-related benefits + excel table to calculate daily salary costs  Hotel invoice  Travel agent invoice + boarding passes + ticket / mileage calculations  Administrative costs proof by accounting /office management dept.s

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships – Responsibility (I) ECH: overall coordination, guidelines & templates, monitoring, liaison with the EC, … National CCIs (LOs): country-specific coordination, collection & aggregation of FDI survey results EU CCIs: 1 for budget & admin. management; all for best practice share WB CCIs: activity implementation, event organization, liaison with local actors

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Partnerships – Responsibility (II) ALL: 1.Respect the deadlines 2.Promote widely*

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY * NOTA BENE on visibility Any notice/publication must specify that: 1.Partners for IP is a EUROCHAMBRES’ project 2.The project has received EU funding

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Reporting requirements Interim report (techn. + fin’l) – Apr 09 Final report – Oct 09  1 EU CCI to ECH

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY II. Survey on FDI obstacles Consultation of 1,000 companies in the beneficiary countries + 1,000 companies in the EU  250/partnership, ca. 60/Chamber Publication of a comprehensive report (how to improve the investment climate in the Western Balkans) Provision of private sector input for OECD’s “Investment Reform Index” 2009

ASSOCIATION OF EUROPEAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY Any doubts? Don’t be afraid to ask! EUROCHAMBRES Team Dirk Vantyghem (Project Director) Micol Martinelli (Project Manager) Marie Lèbre (Project Assistant)