6 women entrepreneurs from the Western Balkans to be recognised for their business success

Sarajevo – For the third year in a row, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is pleased to announce that the nominations for the Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2023 have officially begun. 

Individuals, representatives of public and private institutions, organisations and everyone interested is invited to nominate their woman entrepreneur of the year in at least one of the following six categories: 

•    Green Woman Entrepreneur - entrepreneur that provides products or services that reduce environmental damage, uses cleaner technologies, and/or that has adopted training programmes for emerging green jobs
•    Artistic Woman Entrepreneur - entrepreneur that developed a company related to arts, culture, design, fashion, lifestyle or crafts
•    ICT Woman Entrepreneur – entrepreneur in information and communication technologies sector that has embraced ICT to start technology and innovative solutions 
•    Young Woman Entrepreneur – entrepreneur up to 35 years old that demonstrated an innovative business solution or a product/service with regional impact and visibility
•    Tourism Woman Entrepreneur - entrepreneur that developed a company in the tourism sector and contributes to tourism promotion 
•    And a novelty category of Social Star Woman Entrepreneur – entrepreneur that launched and/or developed her business by using the power of social media

Any woman that is a citizen of one of the Western Balkan economies, and owns a business that is registered before 31 January 2023 is eligible for nomination.  

Nominations will be open until 26 February 2024. Following the selection process, winners will be invited to take part in the final event.
All the winning women entrepreneurs are to participate and contribute to the Regional Network of Women in Entrepreneurship (RNWE), receive publicity, take part in various RCC events, and have an opportunity for on-demand mentorship through dedicated digital mentorship platform.

More information on the nominee requirements, categories, and the selection process can be found here.

The Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year was officially launched in 2022 as a way to recognise women who have started and developed their own business and contributed to new and sustainable jobs for others in our region. The recognition is organised as part of the Common Regional Market Action Plan 2021-2024 and the RCC’s Women Economic Empowerment Agenda, and is financed by the European Union.  

Previous laureates
Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2022
Western Balkans Women Entrepreneurs of the Year 2021