PUBLIC CALL FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM TO SUPPORT COMPETITIVENESS, PRODUCTIVITY AND INTERNATIONALIZATION OF MSME IN 2018

The Development Agency of Serbia (hereinafter: RAS) developed the Competitiveness, Productivity and Internationalization Support Program (hereinafter: Program) as part of the RAS Work Program for 2018. The general goal of the Program is the development of economic entities and increasing their competitiveness, which should create a strong, competitive and export-oriented MSME sector.

Within this program, support is intended for MSMEs through co-financing of the following project activities:

1. Regulation of business in accordance with the requirements of international standards;
2. Harmonization of products with the requirements of technical regulations;
3. Development of technological processes, products/services;

Improvement of existing and development of new products/services

New design of products and packaging;

Improvement of existing and development of new technological processes;

4. Individual appearance at an international fair abroad.

CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM

1) that the predominant activity of the MSME is production or processing (fulfilment of this condition is checked based on the activity code under which they are registered in the APR - more detailed information in the Instructions for the Implementation of the Program to Support Productivity Competitiveness and Internationalization of MSMEs);

2) that they are majority privately owned;

3) that at the time of submitting the application, they are registered in the APR of the Republic of Serbia no later than January 1, 2016 (in the Register of Business Companies or entrepreneur);

4) that they did positive business in the previous year;

5) that they keep business books according to the double bookkeeping system;

6) that they have settled their tax and contribution obligations;

7) that in the last two years they have not been banned from performing activities;

8) that for the same justified expenses for which they are applying, in the last two years they have not used incentive funds that come from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, the budget of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the budget of the Local Government;

9) that they are not in difficulties according to the definition contained in the Regulation on the Rules for the Allocation of State Aid;

10) The program will co-finance project activities that were started after the publication of the Public Call, and were not completed before signing the contract with RAS. An exception is the project activities defined under serial number 3. "Development of technological processes, products/services", which can be started no earlier than 01.01.2018. year.

The applicant can submit only one Project Application for participation in the Program.

Funds cannot be used for:

1. Project activities directed towards: tobacco industry; the organization of games of chance; production and sale of weapons and military equipment; construction; trade and primary agricultural production;
2. Projects concerning only or mainly individual scholarships for studies and training, as well as individual sponsorships for participation in workshops;
3. Projects related to political parties;
4. Projects aimed at charitable donations.

AMOUNT OF GRANTS

Available funds are approved individually to Users, as co-financing in the amount of up to 50% of the amount of justified costs without VAT, for each project activity.

The maximum amount of approved funds is 2,000,000 dinars.

The total budget of the Program is 140,000,000 dinars.

The deadline for the completion of all contracted activities and the realization of payments within the approved project is 12 months from the date of signing the contract with RAS.

Justified project costs are:

1. Costs for arranging business in accordance with the requirements of international standards, namely:

1.1 Costs of implementing standards with the first certification;

2. Costs for product compliance with the requirements of the new European directives that require CE marking, i.e. with technical regulations that prescribe the marking of products with the Serbian mark of conformity "3A", namely:

2.1 Costs of meeting essential requirements for product safety;

2.2 Costs of meeting the requirements of directives/regulations for prepackaged products products;

2.3 Costs of calibration of measuring devices in the production process;

2.4 Costs of testing and control of product health;

2.5 Costs of issuing a test report (test report);

Note: All costs listed from subsections 2.1 to 2.5 will be considered justified only if a test report/calibration report is submitted when justifying the project activities report/calibration report) by an accredited laboratory.

2.6 Costs of certification with product testing in European notified bodies (e.g. NANDO base);

2.7 Costs of review of technical documentation by designated bodies when issuing a certificate of conformity.

3. Costs of improving existing and developing new products and/or technological processes:

3.1 Costs of creating technical documentation for the product;

3.2 Costs of creating a product prototype;

3.3 Costs of testing/testing a product prototype;

3.4 Costs of creating a new product design;

3.5 Costs of creating a product redesign;

3.6 Costs of creating packaging design;

3.7 Costs of creating technological documentation for the needs of improving existing and/or developing new technological processes;

3.8 Costs of acquiring new production equipment to improve the production and technological process (equipment cannot be purchased from a natural person, unless the seller of the equipment is an entrepreneur);

3.9 Costs of creating a feasibility study and introducing work process automation through the use of ICT and smart production systems;

3.10 Costs of purchasing/creating/finishing and implementing specialized software (which excludes the operating system and general-purpose software, e.g. Office package).

4. Costs of an individual appearance at an international fair abroad:

4.1 Costs of renting an exhibition space;

4.2 Costs of renting or creating and setting up a stand;

4.3 Mandatory administrative costs prescribed by the fair (registration fee and similar);

4.4 Operating costs for the duration of the fair (electricity and water connection, electricity and water consumption, internet, etc.).

5. Costs of specialized training for management and employees in connection with the implementation of acceptable project activities of this program;

5.1 Engagement costs lecturers, trainers, mentors;

5.2 Operational costs for the realization of specialized trainings (costs of renting halls/spaces; costs of renting equipment/machines for maintaining specialized training; costs of working materials; costs of catering).

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION FOR COMPETITION

1. Form 1 - Project Application (completed, signed and certified by the Applicant) applications);
2. Form 2 - Project Budget;
3. Form 3 - Declaration of the Applicant
4. Certification from the competent tax administration that the Applicant has settled all public revenues (taxes and contributions), which must not be older than 30 days from the date of submission of the application (original or certified photocopy by the competent certifying authority);
5. Financial documentation: Balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for the previous year (year 2017) - Copy of the Certificate of Registration of the regular annual financial report issued by APR.

If the applicant did not receive the Certificate of Registration of the regular annual financial report for the year 2017, it is necessary to submit the balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for the year 2017, signed and certified by the person responsible for compiling the financial report and a written statement of the legal representative of the company on the credibility and identity of the copy submitted to the APR on the final processing.

6. Offer/s of the selected Supplier/s for various project activities. The offer should contain a clearly defined subject and scope of activities, the deadline for implementation and the price expressed in dinars and with VAT shown. In case the price is expressed in foreign currency on the offer, it is recalculated according to the middle exchange rate of the National Bank of Serbia on the day of submission of the application and the amount in dinars is shown in the budget of the application. All possible later exchange rate differences are borne by the User.
7. Documentation proving the competence of the Service Provider (this documentation refers to acceptable project activities for the realization of which the Service Provider is engaged, which are defined in chapter 2.3.1 from point 1 to point 3) and that:

• Reference list with a minimum of 3 recommendations (not older than 3 years) on the client's letterhead with a detailed description of the type of service and the period of execution proving the competence to provide the service in question;
• List of engaged persons who will implement the project activities and prove the following for each one individually:

- Qualifications and competences (evidence: diplomas, certificates, licenses, certificates, membership in professional organizations);

- Minimum 3 years of work experience (evidence: employer's confirmation on a memorandum with a job description or a contract on engagement in the provision of services to MSMEs proving competence to provide the service in question);

8. Documentation to be submitted for the project activity - Individual appearance at an international fair abroad:

• Basic information about the fair obtained from the organizer of the fair or from the official website of the fair;
• Application form and price list of fair appearances;
• List of participating countries in the previous year at the fair for which the application is submitted.

RAS reserves the right to perform an additional check of the submitted documentation and, if necessary, request additional documentation from the Applicant, but only for formally correct applications.

APPLICATION METHOD AND DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS

Project applications with all accompanying forms and documentation are submitted in person or by registered mail to Accredited Regional Development Agencies with the indication: Application for Public Call for participation under the Program to Support Competitiveness, Productivity and Internationalization of MSMEs in 2018.

The list of Accredited Regional Development Agencies with contacts can be viewed here .

Instructions for implementing the Program and all accompanying forms are available on the RAS website: www.ras.gov.rs, and for all additional information, you can contact RAS electronically at the address: konkunternost2018@ras.gov.rs

The public call is open until funds are used up, and no later than 30.09.2018. year.

Supporting documentation:

Form 1 - Application

Form 3 - Statement

Control list competitiveness

Instruction