This component is intended for business entities and entrepreneurs that want to showcase their products at international fairs abroad in order to increase export revenues.

Program requirements

Eligible Applicants for grants are legal entities categorized as micro, small and medium-sized legal entities in accordance with the Article 6 of the Law on Accounting, as well as entrepreneurs with a double-entry bookkeeping system, submitting their annual financial reports to the Business Registers Agency for processing and whose prevailing activity is manufacturing or processing [1]

[1] Compliance with this requirement shall be checked on the basis of activity codes under which the business entity is registered in the APR. Exceptionally, in the case the prevailing code of the subject refers to activity that are excluded from this program, and the business entity also performs a manufacturing/processing activity, it is necessary to submit an explanation which shows that the purpose of the program is in accordance with the nature of the additional activities of the business entity, and which is not excluded by this program. Based on that, the Committee for assessment and selection of grant applications will assess the fulfilment of this requirement.

Applicants must meet the following general requirements cumulatively:

1.  They are registered in APR before January 1, 2015;

2. They have a majority local private ownership;

3. There is no registered process of liquidation or bankruptcy;

4. They have paid all due taxes and contributions;

5. They had a positive balance in the previous year;

6. They have not been imposed a protective measure of prohibition of activity with a legally binding decision in the previous two years;

7. They do not have difficulties according to the definition from the Decree on Rules of State Aid Grant;

8. They have not used incentives from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina or local self-governments for the same project activities in the current year;

9)They have a functional website (comprehensive, updated...)with the content in at least one foreign language

Purpose of grant

Eligible project activities include:

• Rent and construction of exhibition area;

• Development of promotional materials (design and printing),and

• Organization of return visits of foreign companies, potential partners.

In order for the application to be considered, the trade fair for which the applicant applies must :

• be international and organized abroad;

• include participant companies from at least 5 countries

• be organized in at least 3 consecutive years

Unacceptable projects in the context of this program are:

1. Projects related to: tobacco industry, organization of gambling, production and sale of weapons and military equipment, trade and primary agricultural production;

2. Projects related only or mostly to individual scholarships for studies and trainings, as well as individual sponsorships for participation in workshops;

3. Projects related to political parties;

4. Project already financed by state aid funds;

5. Projects limited to charity donations.

In context of this Program, one business entity may only submit application for one project.

Grant amount

RAS co-finances up to 50%of the total amount of justified costs without VAT.

Maximum amount granted by RAS for this Component is 1,000,000.00 RSD.

Total available funds amount to 40.000.000,00 RSD.

 Eligible costs are costs incurred by the Selected Beneficiary, under the following conditions:

1. The costs incurred during the project implementation;

2. The costs are included in the planned project budget;

3. The costs are necessary for the implementation of project activities;

4. The costs are measurable and registered in accordance with the valid accounting standards;

5. The costs are reasonable and in accordance with the financial management requirements, especially in terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency;

6. The costs are not covered by other sources of finance (double financing is not allowed).

Eligible costs of trade fair activities include:

1. Participation at an international fair

• Rent of exhibition area,

• Booth construction,

• Administrative costs (participation fee),

• Technical services (water and electricity connections, water, electricity and internet costs)

2. Development of promotional materials for the fair (design and printing)–This will be accepted for costs of up to 3% of the total value of eligible project costs, up to the amount of 60,000.00 RSD.

3. Organization of return visits of foreign companies, potential partners –This will be accepted for costs of up to 3% of the total value of eligible project costs, up to the amount of 60,000.00 RSD. It can include:

• Transportation costs,

• Accommodation costs,

• Interpreter.

Deadline for realization of a return visit is two months from the finalization of trade fair activity.

 Grants cannot be used for:

1. arrears from duties and taxes, loans and loan instalments;

2. the cost of guarantees, insurance, interest, costs of banking operations, foreign exchange differences;

3. fines, financial penalties and costs of legal proceedings;

4. customs fees;

5. costs of enforced collection;

6. VAT;

7. Co-financing of participation at trade fairs where the applicant will participate in the organization of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and RAS;

8. Co-financing of participation at trade fairs where the applicant will participate in a joint, group participation, with more favourable conditions.

Maximum project duration is 9 months from the day of signing the contract with RAS.

Documents to be submitted:

 For Component 1 the applicant submits the following documents:

1. Form 1 – Project application (completed, signed and stamped);

2. Form 2 - Applicant’s Statement on Accepting the Conditions for Grant;

3. Form 3 - Statement on Awarded State Aid of Small Value (de minimis state aid);

4. The Providers’ offer for the proposed project, stamped and signed by the Provider, with a clearly defined subject and scope of activities, implementation deadline and price of services expressed in RSD and a calculated VAT. (In case of a foreign provider, net value presented in foreign currency on the pro-forma invoice, it is calculated at the middle rate of the National Bank of Serbia on the day of grant application. All possible exchange rate differences later in the process of purchasing the service from abroad shall be borne by the potential beneficiary);

5. A statement that there is no registered process of liquidation or bankruptcy, or that the business ceased to exist due to a court decision or other authorities with binding measure;

6. A statement that they does not have difficulties according to the definition of business entity with difficulties from the Decree on the Rules of State Aid Grant;

7. Certificate from the relevant tax administration that all public revenues have been paid (taxes and contributions), which must not be issued before the date of announcement of the Public Call (an original or a copy authorized by the authorization body);

8. Balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for 2016 - a copy of the Registration Certificate for the regular annual financial report for 2016 issued by APR (If the applicant has not obtained the Registration Certificate for the regular annual financial report for 2016, they should submit the balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for 2016, signed and stamped by the person responsible for the preparation of financial reports and a written statement of the legal representative of the applicant that the document is authentic and identical to the copy submitted to the APR for final processing);

9. A form of the Enterprise Europe Network for partner search in foreign countries completed by the Applicant.

RAS reserves the right, if necessary, to request additional documentation from the Selected Beneficiary, but only for complete applications.

Accompanying documents:

Manual

Form 1 – Project application K1

Form 2 – Statement on Accepting the Conditions of Participating in the Export Promotion Program K1

Form 3 – Statement on Awarded State Aid K1

Form 4 – Report on the Implementation of the Activity K1

Form 5 – Request for Payment (Reimbursement)of FundsK1

Enterprise Europe Network Form

Method and deadline for submission of the documents:

Applications with all the forms and documents are submitted personally or by registered mail to Regional Development Agency (RDA), with a note:

Application for the Public Call to participate in the Export Promotion Program, Component 1 – Individual participation at trade fairs abroad.

Lists of Regional Development Agencies with contact HERE.

 Public Call for Component 1 is open until the funds are spent.

For more information please contact RDAs or RAS at: sajam@ras.gov.rs

This component is intended to support projects proposed by RDAs, chambers of commerce, associations, clusters and others. and which are intended for the organisation of the company's mission to target foreign markets.

Program requirements

This component targets associations(clusters, NGOs...),regional development agencies and chambers of commerce. Applicants must meet the following general requirements cumulatively:

1. They are registered in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with the relevant law;

2. They were registered before January 1, 2016;

3. There is no registered process of liquidation or bankruptcy;

4. They have paid all due taxes and contributions;

5. They had a positive balance in the previous year;

6. They have not been imposed a protective measure of prohibition of activity with a legally binding decision in the previous two years;

7. They have not used incentives from the budget of the Republic of Serbia, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina or the budget of local self-governments for the same project activities from the application

8. They do not have difficulties according to the definition from the Decree on Rules of State Aid Grant;

9. Support to export activities/export promotion is specified as one of the goals in their strategic plan/development plan;

10. They have adopted the Work Program or Plan for 2017;

11. Their Statute includes activities on support to SMEEs.

Purpose of grant

 The following activities are eligible within this Component:

• Preparation and realization of trips;

• Organization of business meetings;

• Organization of company visits to organizations which can be partners to the participants of company missions;

• Development (design and printing)of promotional materials.

One applicant under this component can apply to a maximum of 5 company missions for SMEEs from various sectors.

Project activities that will not be finances:

•  Project activities related to: tobacco industry, organization of gambling, production and sale of weapons and military equipment, trade, financial sector and primary agricultural production;

• Projects already a part of general activities of relevant state institutions or public administration services, including local self-governments;

• Project already funded by state aid;

• Humanitarian activities;

• Projects related to political parties.

 Maximum project duration is 6 months from the signing of the contract.

Grant amount

RAS co-finances up to 50%of the total amount of justified costs without VAT.

Maximum amount granted by RAS for this Component is 1,000,000.00 RSD. .

Total available funds for this component amount 20.000.000,00 RSD.

 Eligible costs are costs incurred by the Selected Beneficiary, under the following conditions:

1. The costs incurred during the project implementation;

2. The costs are included in the planned project budget;

3. The costs are necessary for the implementation of project activities;

4. The costs are measurable and registered in accordance with the valid accounting standards;

5. The costs are reasonable and in accordance with the financial management requirements, especially in terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency;

6. The costs are not covered by other sources of finance (double financing is not allowed).

 The following costs are eligible:

1. Project management costs:

1.1 Salaries for people employed by the applicant and working on the project (project team members);

2. Travel and accommodation expenses for project team members:

2.1 Travel expenses;

2.2 Per diems (non-taxable amounts of per diems will be accepted)

2.3 Accommodation;

3. Organisation of the company mission:

1. Rent of space and equipment for presentations and meetings;

2. Refreshments for participants (coffee, beverages, catering, etc.);

3. Preparation of materials for the event (invitations, presentations, etc.);

4. Purchase of supplies for the event (paper, folders, pens, CDs, etc.);

5. Transportation of participants;

6. Accommodation for project participants;

7. Tickets for international fair;

4. Costs for better visibility of the projects, dissemination of information and publicity:

4.1 Development of promotional materials(design and printing);

5. Services of external associates:

5.1 Translator/interpreter.

Project management costs of up to 5% of the total value of eligible project costs will be accepted, up to the maximum amount of 100,000.00 RSD.

Eligible costs of transportation and accommodation for project team members can include costs for up to two persons from the organisation (Applicant) involved in the organisation of the company mission.

For promotional materials, the costs of up to 3% of the total value of eligible project costs will be accepted, with the maximum amount of up to 100,000.00 RSD.

Eligible costs for transportation of participants, accommodation for participants and tickets for international fairs are costs for up to two persons from each SMEE participating in the project. Accommodation costs will only be accepted for three-star hotels. If participants travel by plane, the cost will only be accepted for economy class tickets.

 Grants cannot be used for:

• arrears from duties and taxes, loans and loan instalments;

• the cost of guarantees, insurance, interest, costs of banking operations, foreign exchange differences;

• fines, financial penalties and costs of legal proceedings;

• customs fees;

• costs of enforced collection;

• VAT.

Documents to be submitted:

1. Form 1 – Project application (completed, signed and stamped);

2. Form 2 - Applicant’s Statement on Accepting the Conditions for Grant (signed and stamped);

3. Form 3 - Statement on Awarded State Aid of Small Value - de minimis state aid (signed and stamped);

4. Form 4 – Project budget (completed, signed and stamped);

5. CVs of the project team members, with a reference list;

6. Certificate from the relevant tax administration that all public revenues have been paid (taxes and contributions), which must not be issued before the date of announcement of the Public Call (an original or a copy authorized by the relevant authorization body);

7. A statement that there is no registered process of liquidation or bankruptcy, or that the business ceased to exist due to a court decision or other authorities with binding measure;

8. A statement that they does not have difficulties according to the definition of business entity with difficulties from the Decree on the Rules of State Aid Grant;

9. Balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for 2016 - a copy of the Registration Certificate for the regular annual financial report for 2016 issued by APR (If the applicant has not obtained the Registration Certificate for the regular annual financial report for 2016, they should submit the balance sheet, income statement and statistical report for 2016, signed and stamped by the person responsible for the preparation of financial reports and a written statement of the legal representative of the applicant that the document is authentic and identical to the copy submitted to the APR for final processing);

10. A copy of the Strategic Plan/Development Plan with a clearly defined activity orientation to export support/promotion as one of the Applicant’s goals;

11. A copy of the Applicant’s Work Program/Plan for 2017;

12. A copy of the Statute with a clearly defined activity orientation to support to SMEEs and entrepreneurs.

RAS reserves the right, if necessary, to request additional documentation from the Applicant, but only for complete applications.

Accompanying documents:

Manual

Form 1 – Project application K2

Form 2 – Statement on Accepting the Conditions of Participating in the Export Promotion Program K2

Form 3 – Statement on Awarded State Aid K2

Form 4 –Project Budget K2

Form 5 – Report on the Implementation of the Activity K2

Form 6- Request for Payment (Reimbursement)of FundsK2

Method and deadline for submission of the documents:

Applications with all the forms and documents are submitted personally or by registered mail to RAS’ administration office, both printed and electronic copies, to the following address: Development Agency of Serbia (RAS),

Belgrade, KnezaMilosa 12/III office 309,

with a note: Application for the Public Call to participate in the Export Promotion Program,Component 2 – Organization of company missions abroad.

For more information please contact the Development Agency of Serbia at:  kompanijskamisija@ras.gov.rs

The Public Call for Component 2 is open for the period of 60 days after the announcement, until May 5^th 2017.