The SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2022 - Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act is the outcome of work conducted by the OECD and seven pre-EU accession economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo1, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey). The work was co-ordinated by the OECD’s South East Europe Division.
The assessment was conducted under the guidance of Andreas Schaal, OECD Director for Global Relations and Co-operation, Karim Dahou, OECD Deputy Director for Global Relations and Co-operation Marzena Kisielewska, Head of the OECD South East Europe Division and Anita Richter, Acting Head of the OECD South East Europe Division.
The work was led by Jovana Pavlovic Djukic and Marijana Petrovic, OECD South East Europe Division. It further profited from inputs by William Tompson, Head of the Eurasia Division, OECD, and Daniel Quadbeck, Head of Eastern Europe and South Caucasus Unit, Eurasia Division, OECD, as lead reviewers of the publication.
This report was made possible thanks to the contributions of the appointed Small Business Act (SBA) co-ordinators who supported the data-gathering and verification process. Our special thanks also go to 600 government officials and other stakeholders who have been actively involved across the region, whose support and dedication have made the development of this publication possible. We would like especially to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals and organisations:
Albania: Arjana Dyrmishi (SBA Co-ordinator), Eralda Shtylla (Ministry of Finance and Economy), Elsa Dhuli (Institute of Statistics).
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Brankica Pandurevic (SBA Co-ordinator of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Edita Peric, Zvjezdana Markovic (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina) Adis Fajic (Co-ordinator of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Nevzet Sefo, Sead Dziho (both from Federal Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Crafts of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Rajko Lajic (Co-ordinator of Republika Srpska), Milka Latincic (Ministry of Economy and Entrepreneurship of Republika Srpska), Bojana Cicovic (Agency of Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Enisa Rastic (Federal Bureau of Statistics of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Mile Vasic (Republika Srpska Bureau of Statistics).
Kosovo*: Zef Dedaj (SBA Co-ordinator of Kosovo) Nol Buzhala, Kreshnik Thaqi (both from Ministry of Trade and Industry), Ismail Sahiti, Habib Strana, Ilir Berisha, Mirvete Fazliu, Haki Kurti (all from Kosovo Agency of Statistics).
North Macedonia: Jumni Ademi (SBA Co-ordinator of North Macedonia), Marina Arsovska, Suzana A. Kostadinova (both from the Ministry of Economy) and Branko Hinic (State Statistical Office of North Macedonia).
Montenegro: Andjela Gajevic (SBA Co-ordinator of Montenegro), Sanja Varajic (Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism), Branka Raicevic (Statistical Office of Montenegro).
Serbia: Katarina Obradovic Jovanovic (SBA Co-ordinator of Serbia), Jelena Matovic (Ministry of Economy), Dragan Popovic, Suncica Stefanovic Sestic, Dijana Dodig Bukilica, Nenad Radosevic (all from Statistical Office of Serbia).
Turkey: S.Tuna Şahin (SBA Co-ordinator of Turkey), Serkan Ercan, Neriman Pınar Işın, Beyza Kuriş, Abdullah Aktepe (all from KOSGEB), Uğur Özcan (Turkish Statistical Institute).
The principal authors of the report were: Elin McCallum (Chapter 1, Entrepreneurial learning and women’s entrepreneurship); Krassin Dimitrov, Ali-Fuad Turgut and Jovana Pavlovic Djukic (Chapter 2, Bankruptcy and Second Chance for SMEs); Matija Lojpur (Chapter 3, Institutional and regulatory framework for SME policy making); Matija Lojpur, Despina Anastasiadou, Clémence Girin, Bert Brys (from the OECD Tax Policy and Statistics Division), Eugénie Ribault (formerly from the OECD Tax Policy and Statistics Division) (Chapter 4, Operational environment for SMEs); Zofia Polakiewicz (Chapter 5, Support services for SMEs); Dariusz Piasta in co-operation with Piotr-Nils Gorecki (from OECD SIGMA) (Chapter 6, Public procurement); Marko Atanasovski (Chapter 7, Access to finance for SMEs); Fabian Scheifele, Florian Munch and Knut Blind (all from Technische Universität Berlin) (Chapter 8, Standards and technical regulations for SMEs); Elin McCallum (Chapter 9, Enterprise skills); Marko Atanasovski (Chapter 10, Innovation policy for SMEs); Clémence Girin (Chapter 11, SMEs in a green economy); Zofia Polakiewicz, Martin Wermelinger and Stratos Kamenis (both from the OECD Investment Division) (Chapter 12, Internationalisation of SMEs). The general parts of the economy profiles were drafted by Ali-Fuad Turgut, Zoé Ryan, Elma Aga, Alan Cefarin, Clémence Girin, Matija Lojpur, Zofia Polakiewicz, while the dimension-specific parts were drafted by the same authors as above.
The report was reviewed and benefitted from further input by: Christophe André (OECD Structural Policy Analysis Division); Barbara Ubaldi, Felipe Gonzalez Zapata, Benjamin Welby, Seong Ju Park (all from OECD Open and Innovative Government Division); Enrico Botta (OECD Green Growth and Global Relations Division). The report’s front matter was prepared by Jovana Pavlovic Djukic, Marijana Petrovic and Umur Gökçe; Introductory chapter (Economic context and the SME sector, Policy framework and assessment process and Overview of the key findings) and annexes were prepared by Umur Gökçe, Zoé Ryan, Clémence Girin, Matija Lojpur and Alan Cefarin.
Comprehensive support throughout the assessment and drafting process was provided by the three partner organisations of the SME Policy Index and co-founders of the SME Policy Index methodology, the European Commission (EC), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Training Foundation (ETF). In particular, the OECD team is grateful for the contributions from the EC’s Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) and Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), especially Javier Menendez Bonilla and Youssef Tadros (DG NEAR) and Francesca Porcelli (DG GROW); as well as Svenja Petersen (EBRD), Kristien Van den Eynde and Pirita Vuorinen (both from ETF). The EU Delegations in the Western Balkans and Turkey and the Delegation of Turkey to the OECD also provided insightful inputs to the publication.
The independent assessments were conducted with the support of local consultants: Jolanda Trebicka (Albania), Dragana Djurica (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), Valmira Rexhëbeqaj (Kosovo), and Şirin Elçi (Turkey).
The report was prepared for publication by Susan Rantalainen (OECD South East Europe Division) and Jennifer Alain, with the strategic support of Kate Lancaster (OECD Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate). It was edited and proofread by Jennifer Allain and Julie Harris. The cover was designed by Caroline Lee.
This report has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official position of the European Union or the Member States.