The organizational board of the South East European Women Entrepreneurs drafted today at the RCC Secretariat in Sarajevo relevant documents and agreed on further steps in preparing its 2010 Conference, which will be held in the framework of the Turkish Chairmanship-in-Office of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP).

“The goal of the project is to establish a regional network of women entrepreneurs, provide support to the development of innovative financing options, and deliver capacity building in technical skills required to expand, access finance and support a larger business”, said Deputy RCC Secretary General, Jelica Minic, who hosted the event.

The project also aims at addressing three key obstacles to the growth of women entrepreneurship: lack of networking opportunities, difficult access to credit, and lack of specific knowledge and skills.

The participants shared experiences of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative and others that provided value added to further networking, training and financing of women entrepreneurs.

Opening remarks were delivered by the Senior UNECE Social Affairs Officer, Malinka Koparanova, and Entrepreneurship Department Director of the Small and Medium Industrial Development Organisation of Turkey, Necla Haliloglu.

The meeting was a follow up to the workshop on Enhancing Women Entrepreneurship in South East Europe, held at the RCC Secretariat in Sarajevo on 1 October 2009.