The Working Group on Business Friendliness (WGBF) has been established under the auspices of the South East Europe Investment Committee (SEEIC), in cooperation with National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED) and GIZ Open Regional Fund for South East Europe. It is tasked with supporting the implementation of the priorities stipulated by the Integrated Growth Pillar and Flagship on Competitiveness of the SEE 2020 Strategy.
The main aims of the WGBF's activities are implementing, maintaining and improving the standards for business friendliness across SEE, to contribute, from a micro-level to improvement of the overall business/investment environment on a macro-level of the SEE.
The emphasis of the WGs activities are:
- Devising a Monitoring system for implementation and effectiveness of business friendliness in SEE economies;
- Identifying challenges related to business friendliness through regional dialogue on practices and policies involving national and local administrations and representatives of the business community as well as through surveys and studies;
- Exploring the possibilities to address those challenges and preparing policy recommendations to SEEIC and individual economies;
- Mapping, spurring and disseminating concrete initiatives on business friendliness, such as business friendly certification in SEE, in municipalities across the SEE ;
- Piloting, carrying out and monitoring measures aimed at improving business friendliness in municipalities across SEE economies.