The main program of the Regional Strategic Conference & Workshop was held on November 10, 2014 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The participants of the Conference came from 12 different countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, R. Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Sweden and Turkey) and included women entrepreneurs owning small and medium enterprises, clusters and cooperatives, representatives from support institutions (business and women’s associations, chambers of economy and commerce, gender machinery, business centers, employers’ associations, NGOs, international forums and funds), representatives from the academia sector, parliament and government representatives (ministries of economy, trade, entrepreneurship and crafts, and social welfare), international community (SIDA, RCC and representatives from the Swedish Embassy).
At the program panels that included presentations of strategic thoughts on women entrepreneurship for the future, participants from international, political and academia sector and women entrepreneurs recognized the importance of synergy with the EU strategies, especially Europe 2020 strategy and its priorities, South East Europe 2020 Strategy and the European industrial policy in which women entrepreneurs from SEE expect to become an active player in its developing and implementing and at the Conference they agreed to send that message to the participants of the EPC conference which was held on November 12, 2014 in Brussels.
Women entrepreneurship must be recognized at all levels (local, national and international) as a strong economic and political resource. In order to encourage women to start and develop their businesses it is important to invest in education, innovative knowledge and communication between public, private and civil sector. What is especially recognized as an obstacle for women in business is the lack of financial support which must be changed and lawmakers must introduce different types of incentives for young and women over 30 or 40 years. The level of thinking when it comes to WE must be changed in order to achieve further development. Within the quadruple helix, all the sectors must employ mutual communication and collaboration and only then positive changes can occur. The Conference included 4 workshops related to different sectors and activities: campaigning/advocacy, policies, support institutions and practical support.
