The implementation of the project "Business Council - BC 6275" financed by the INTERREG V/A GREECE-BULGARIA 2014-2020 program, Subsidy contract No. B6.3a.18/13.04.2021, has ended.
The RISK association, together with its partners from the SNC IOR, DE.CU.T.E. and JOIN4CS, successfully completed the implementation of the project "Business Council - BC 6275" financed by INTERREG V/A GREECE-BULGARIA 2014-2020 program, Subsidy contract №B6.3a.18/13.04.2021.
During the implementation of the project activities, the Bulgarian partners held a number of informational events and meetings with local authorities and businesses in the border regions - Kardzhali, Smolyan, Haskovo and Blagoevgrad. Business councils were constituted in nine priority sectors – Agriculture Industry, Food Industry, Renewable Energy Sources, Healthcare, Materials, Technologies, Waste Management and Sustainable Tourism, in all areas. 84 regular council meetings were held, attended by more than 400 business representatives in the border area.
During the meetings, the most pressing problems concerning the development and expansion of the entrepreneurial activity of SMEs in the project areas were discussed. Actions that business owners could take to improve their organizations' capacity to penetrate foreign markets, expand social entrepreneurship, and more were discussed.
A platform was created to support the work of business councils online and all current members were introduced to its functionalities. As a result of the held regular meetings of the business councils and the held discussions, a number of issues were brought up and formed into a database valid for all sectors and areas.
The team then formulated recommendations to address the identified issues, which were presented to local authorities in a series of informational meetings organized by the IOR Association.
All project activities have been successfully completed and the final project reports will be submitted in the coming months.