Guide of good practices supporting innovation in agro sector

Transcription

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ISBN
9788896394137
This publication was prepared under the:
SEE/D/093/1.2/X
“Transnational network for SME support in the animal breeding and horticulture sector- AGRO-START” Project
Priority: Facilitation of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Area of intervention: Develop the enabling environment for innovative entrepreneurship
South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme
Edited by AGRO-START’s University of Molise Staff:
Arturo Alvino, Scientic Leader
Adolfo Fabrizio Colagiovanni, Project Coordinator
Daniele Marinelli, Project Assistant and Editor
Stefano Marino, Research Fellow
Francesco Di Lucia, Part-time Researcher
ISBN 9788896394137
Date 1st publishing: June 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
AGRO-START Project ............................................................................... 1
Project Activities ........................................................................................2
Good Practice Guide..................................................................................4
Effective approaches for diagnostic and assessment services on
innovative and/or efficient production and operational processes for the
target sectors ..............................................................................................5
Ismea – Business Plan Online .......................................................................................................... 6
Pig Carcase Grading (PCG) ............................................................................................................. 9
Diagnostic and assessment service for SME regarding the implementation of an Integrated Pest
Management (IPM) in the horticulture sector ................................................................................ 12
Implementation of Unilever’s Sustainable Agricultural Code for industrial tomato producers .... 16
Integrated management of orchards: Innovation beyond tradition ................................................ 18
Diagnostic and assessment services to Animal Husbandry Cooperatives and Fruits’ and
Vegetables’ Agricultural Cooperatives/Groups Producers ............................................................. 21
Effective approaches in financial support tools for SMEs in the old, new
Member states and candidate countries and how to provide support for
SMEs to inform about their availability and access them ....................... 24
IPARD online information toolkit .................................................................................................. 25
Business support to farmers for access to finance ......................................................................... 28
TrovaAgevolazioni.it: the online tool to finance your investments ............................................... 32
Financial instruments and services in smaller towns and rural areas ............................................ 36
Agevolazioni alle Imprese (SMEs facilitation.it) .......................................................................... 40
Access to Finance in Agro Business .............................................................................................. 44
Effective approaches for technology and innovation transfer to SMEs .. 47
Software Suite for the management of horticultural crops ............................................................ 48
Knowledge2Innovation Toolkit ..................................................................................................... 52
Integrated monitoring and control of foodborne viruses in a vegetable production enterprise ..... 55
www.fertirrigazione.it .................................................................................................................... 59
Use of blended type training courses (online and on the field) for young farmers (SMEs) in
horticultural and the animal breeding sector .................................................................................. 61
Agrohomeopathy – novel old approach in horticulture and animal breeding................................ 65
Supporting technology and innovation transfer on national and international level ..................... 69
Effective approaches for promoting and facilitating entrepreneurship in
the target sectors ...................................................................................... 73
Bulgarian Business Angels Network supports entrepreneurship in the horticultural and animal
breeding sector ............................................................................................................................... 74
iFarm: a farm management application for mobile devices ........................................................... 78
Entrepreneurial Animation ............................................................................................................. 82
University of Ruse – Ecobiz Info Centres and Ecobiz Fair ........................................................... 85
Center for Agricultural Entrepreneurship at the American Farm School - Perrotis College ......... 89
LugoNextLab new opportunity to develop your projects and enter a business ............................. 93
Effective support approaches to assess on entering new markets,
meeting European quality standard, promotion of products and
facilitate the internationalization of SMEs ............................................. 96
Quality Assurance for Small Food Producers (GLK) in the Framework of the Project “Food
Safety for South East Europe 2012 – 2013” .................................................................................. 97
Strategic Export Concept ............................................................................................................. 101
Exportgate.gr ................................................................................................................................ 106
Matching 2.0 – The value of a meeting........................................................................................ 110
National Export Portal Bulgaria (NEPBG) .................................................................................. 114
Regional/National animal identification and traceability (cattle, sheep, lamb, goats) in Albania –
ICT Platform ................................................................................................................................ 118
Other Good Practice Examples ............................................................. 122
LIST OF ABBREVIATION
AGROSTAR
The National Federation of Trade Unions in Agriculture, Food, Tobacco,
Domains and Related Services AGROSTAR, Romania
BEF
Bulgaria Economic Forum, Bulgaria
BSC SME
Business Support Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises – Ruse, Bulgaria
CBPD
Centre for Business and Parliamentary Dialog, Albania
CERTH / IRETETH
Centre for Research and Technology - Hellas (CERTH)
Institute for Research and Technology - Thessaly (IRETETH), Greece
CONFAGRICOLTURA
PUGLIA
Regional Federation of Farmers Puglia, Italy
ERFC
European Regional Framework Co-operation, Greece
EC
European Commission
EU
European Union
FFRM
Federation of the farmers in the Republic of Macedonia, Fyrom
FYROM
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
ICT
Information and Communications Technology
KGZS
Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia, Slovenia
R&D
Research and Development
SEE
South East Europe
SME
Small and Medium Enterprises
SE RDA / ADR SE
The Regional Development Agency of the South - East Development
Region, Romania
UNIMOL
University of Molise, Italy
European Partners
AGROSTAR Federation in Partnership with:
The Regional Development Agency
of the South-East Development
Region
SE RDA / ADR SE
Romania
Centre for Research and Technology
– Hellas (CERTH))
Institute for Research and
Technology – Thessaly (IRETETH)
CERTH / IRETETH
Greece
Business Support Centre for Small
and Medium Enterprises – Ruse
BSC SME
Bulgaria
Bulgaria Economic Forum
BEF
Bulgaria
Chamber of Agriculture and
Forestry of Slovenia
KGZS
Slovenia
Regional Federation Of Farmers
Puglia
CONFAGRICOLTURA PUGLIA
Italy
E.R.F.C. (European Regional
Framework Co-operation)
ERFC
Greece
University of Molise
UNIMOL
Italy
Molise Region
MOLISE REGION
Italy
Centre for Business and
Parliamentary Dialog
CBPD
Albania
Federation of the farmers in the
Republic of Macedonia
FFRM
Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
International Staff
AGROSTAR
SE RDA / ADR SE
CERTH / IRETETH
ERFC
BSC SME
BEF
KGZS
UNIMOL
MOLISE REGION
CBPD
FFRM
Aurelia Rosu, Project Manager
Ana Rotaru, Project Manager Assistant
Adrian Rosu, Technical Expert Agricultural Sector
Sorin Grigorescu, Technical Expert Breeding Sector
Adriana Vaida, Project Manager
Diana Alexandru, Technical Officer
Madalina Toma, Technical Officer
Cristina Neagu Patulea, Technical Officer
Monica Daniela Cristina, Technical Officer
Claudia Cioroiu, Financial Officer
Constantinos Kittas, Project Coordinator
Thomas Bartzanas, Researcher, Technical Expert
Stavroula Divane, Project Management and Dissemination
Nikolas Petropoulos, Project Coordinator
Katerina Sotiropoulou, Financial Manager
George Soulos, Project Manager
Iliana Draganova, Project Coordinator and Administrative Officer
Emil Stanev, Technical Manager
Sashka Tsoneva, Project Financial Officer
George Tabakov, Project Manager
Valeriya Paskaleva, Technical Manager
Christina Zlatanova, Financial Manager
Marina Hristeva, Expert Event Organization
Syuzan Dzhevadilova, Technical assistant
Aleš Tolar, Project Manager
Janko Rode, Project Coordinator
Jožica Vodopivec Rozman, Project Assistant
Marjan Papež, Public Relations and Dissemination
Carlo Zambelli, Director
Francesca Tiziana Dipasquale, Project Coordinator
Fabio Lazzari, Technical Expert
Arturo Alvino, Scientic Leader
Adolfo Fabrizio Colagiovanni, Project Coordinator
Daniele Marinelli, Project Assistant
Stefano Marino, Research Fellow
Francesco Di Lucia, Part-time Researcher
Mauro Calise, Project Coordinator
Paolo Stanziale, Communication Manager
Dessislava Tzvetkova, Translator
Eugenia Gjuraj, Project Coordinator
Rakela Kapo, Project Assistant & Financial Officer
Vladimir Saliasi, Technical Expert
Manuela Canaj, Technical Expert
Biljana Petrovska-Mitrevska, Project Coordinator and PR officer
Trajanka Apostolova, Financial Manager
The Project
AGRO-START Project
The South East Europe (SEE) economic area is a SMEs-based economy in which the sectors of horticulture and animal
breeding play a vital role regarding economic growth and employment opportunities. SMEs face severe common
problems in sustainably keeping up their competitiveness in their national and on the European market, such as: lack of
effective support services that offer practical help and expert knowledge to entrepreneurs and experienced enterprises to
foster innovative approaches; not well exploited advantages that new technologies offer; difficulties in entering on new
markets; poorly developed marketing networks; low level of cooperation between undertakings and low level of
internationalization.
The project’s overall objective is to increase the SMEs competitiveness and promote and facilitate the innovative
entrepreneurship by giving an answer to the need of a specific support Service for SMEs in the horticulture and animal
breeding sector that adapts an integrated transnational approach.
Through AGRO-START Project the SEE Service Protocol that is addressed to business support organizations will be
developed in order to improve the provision of SME support and innovation services and assist SMEs to better exploit
the possibilities for SMEs in the South East economic area.
SEE Support Service Protocol will be based on a common and integrated approach that provides business support
service organizations with guidelines on how to best assess SMEs in order to enable them to tackle the common
challenges that they are facing and on how to best guide SMEs so that these can fully exploit the opportunities that inheres
the SEE area for them..
SEE Protocol will also give guidelines on how to best facilitate and promote an innovative entrepreneurship environment
for SMEs in the horticulture and animal breeding sector.
The specific objectives of the project are therefore the following:
1. Implement and pilot the SEE Support Service Protocol in the participating partners’ entities;
2. Pilot the support tools that will help to improve the business support services provided through the SEE
Support Service Protocol and increase the competitiveness of SMEs in the horticulture and animal breeding
sector through the development of a transnational database for SME support and service providers that will
help to assess on comparative advantages and provide information for service providers on the market;
3. Provide better assistance to SMEs in order to increase their internationalization (by assisting them in being
represented on the internet, web constructor, and organization of a SEE Virtual Fair);
4. Raise awareness on the need for innovation and provide better innovation diagnostic and assessment services
by piloting a diagnostic and assessment tool;
5. Provide better assistance for entrepreneurs and facilitate the environment for innovative entrepreneurship by
developing the SEE Kit for entrepreneurs and implementing an e-learning course for entrepreneurs;
6. Transfer the SEE Support Service Protocol and the support tools and capacitate employees of business support
service organizations to implement it.
The core result of the project will be an increased quality and effectiveness of business support services to SMEs;
increased knowledge of at least 1000 business support services that the Protocol has been distributed to and assistance
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AGRO-START Good Practice Guide
for implementing it has been provided to. The support tools will produce the following results: increased
internationalization of SMEs in the animal breeding and horticulture sector, transnational database will help to assess on
comparative advantages; increased know-how of at least 60 employees of business support services through the specially
developed e-learning course, assured realistic approach of the Protocol by obtaining valorous considerations on the first
approaches of the SEE Support Service Protocol obtained and enriched by the target groups, increased SME’s awareness
of innovation and opportunity for the improvement of their competitiveness.
Project Activities
AGRO-START Project is structured in 7 Work Packages (WP), each of them having two or three main activities, as
follows:
1.
Transnational project and financial management: this is a transversal activity to the other
Work Packages that will assure a well-structured coordination, project and financial management during the
whole project cycle;
2.
Communication activities: this is a transversal activity with the main objective to disseminate project
results to the target groups and to assure a high visibility of project results and activities throughout the whole
project cycle;
3.
Detection of innovative and successful approaches for elaboration and
implementation of the SEE Support Service Protocol: this is the core component of the
AGRO-START Project. There will be organized 5 thematic workshops in Romania, Greece, Italy, Albania and
Bulgaria, for which the project partners will contact target groups in order to identify good practice examples in
their countries that best tackle the challenges of SMEs and provide successful and/or innovative approaches to
best exploit the opportunities. This will contribute to the development of a Good Practice Guide and, based on
these approaches, it will be developed the SEE Support Service Protocol that will guide business support entities
on how to best provide support services to SMEs in the animal breeding and horticulture sector in order to
improve their competitiveness and facilitate an innovative environment for entrepreneurship. In order to assure
the transfer of projects results, the partnership will provide assistance via e-mail to entities that want to
implement the SEE Support Service Protocol. Good Practice Guide and the Protocol will be available both in
English and in partners’ languages and will be posted on the project’s website and the hard copies will be
disseminated among target groups and stakeholders;
4.
Structural support measures to improve SME support services in the animal
breeding and horticulture sector: the successful implementation of the SEE Support Service
Protocol is reinforced by the adequate support tools. Through AGRO-START Project was elaborated a
Transnational database on service suppliers and providers that include data on specialized business support
service and product suppliers from the complete supply and value chain of the targeted SMEs: seed providers,
tool providers, etc. The data is included from all participating countries and therefore enables business support
services to better assess entrepreneurs on starting up their business and access other markets in the participating
countries, take advantage of comparative advantages and price differences and help the SMEs to widen their
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service/product provider base or internationalize themselves. The database is available on the project’s website
and is therefore accessible to all interested SMEs and business support services. Within this work package a
transnational conference for SME business support services was organized in Bulgaria. The aim of the
conference was to present the transnational database on service and product providers, motivate the participants
to join and enrich the database and promote active networking in order for the project to benefit from possible
synergies;
5.
Increasing SME’s awareness of innovation and technology in order to
approach better roads to market opportunities: is addressed to the SME stakeholders in order
to test a diagnostic approach and transfer know-how and raise awareness of innovation. Thus, it will be carried
out the following activities:
 Diagnostic and assessment of SMEs in the horticulture and animal breeding sector, which is meant
to test one of the approaches integrated into the SEE Support Service Protocol;
 Elaboration and organization of an e-learning course for entrepreneurs: Based on the commonly
detected training needs during the diagnostic, it will be developed an e-learning course that will
provide entrepreneurs with the necessary knowledge in order for them to undertake an innovative
and successful entrepreneur’s initiative;
6.
Elaboration of support tools for entrepreneurs and SMEs in the horticulture
and animal breeding sector: it will provide additional support tools for SMEs to increase their
internationalization and facilitate entrepreneurship, as follow:
 SEE Kit for entrepreneurs: is a tool meant to support entrepreneurship that will help SMEs to
fully take into accounted the conditions and requirements of the AGRO-START partner countries
for entrepreneurship in the targeted sectors;
 Web Builder: The entrepreneurs from the horticulture and animal breeding sector will have the
possibility to create their own website in order to increase their visibility on the market;
 SEE Virtual Faire: is a tool meant to promote internationalization of entrepreneurial initiatives.
Through SEE Virtual Fair 12 SMEs from the participating SEE regions from the horticulture and
animal breeding sector can promote their products in virtual stands. The customer can pass
through the virtual pavilion and visit the different SMEs. The virtual fair will provide information
in an innovative manner that will invite the costumer to visit the SMEs website for further
information;
7.
Training measures for the employees of business support services for the
effective implementation of the SEE Support Service Protocol: it will transfer the
know-how and capacitate the employees of business support services for the implementation of the final
version of the SEE Support Service Protocol and introduce them to the SEE support tools developed by
AGRO-START Project. In this respect an e-learning course will be organized in each participating country. The
design of the e-learning course will be elaborated based on the training needs diagnostic that will be carrying out
by all partners at the level of support services organizations.
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Good Practice Guide
Good Practice Guide collects the work done during 5 thematic workshops in which the partners have selected the best
examples of innovation and entrepreneurship in horticulture and animal breeding in their countries.
Five thematic workshop topics are:
1. Effective approaches for diagnostic and assessment services on innovative and/or efficient production and
operational processes for the target sectors;
2. Effective approaches in financial support tools for SMEs in the old, new Member states and candidate countries
and how to provide support for SMEs to inform about their availability and access them (financial support for
entrepreneurs, for innovative approaches, etc.);
3. Effective approaches for technology and innovation transfer to SMEs;
4. Effective approaches for promoting and facilitating entrepreneurship in the target sectors;
5. Effective support approaches to assess on entering new markets, meeting European quality standard, promotion
of products and facilitate the internationalization of SMEs.
Detection and assessment of Good Practice
Methodology for the identification and assessment of good practice in the context of
AGRO-START Project
For each theme of the 5 workshops, each partner must select 2 good practice examples (in total 10 good practice
examples/partner) of services provided by business support services to SMEs in animal breeding and horticulture sector.
All good practice examples will be discussed and analyzed in common by the partners during the workshops.
For each theme, the project partners will analyze at least 4 good practice examples and will select 2 of them by using 2
sets of selection criteria:
1. General criteria:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
The good practice example refers to services provided by business support services to SMEs in animal breeding
and horticulture sectors;
The good practice examples comply with the theme of the workshop in which the good practice is selected;
The good practice example offers successful and innovative approaches that exploit the best the opportunities
offered by the economic area of the participant country/SEE;
The good practice example could be easily transferred to other areas/countries/regions;
The services provided by the business support services are given respecting the principle of equal opportunities.
2. Specific criteria (generated for the each thematic workshop).
After that they assign an evaluation to each good practice they analyzed in order to identify the two best good ones they
are going to present during each workshop.
After a presentation in which each partners’ speakers introduce two best practice examples, the partners vote and select a
small group of ten examples among which they proceed to second round of voting to select the top six best practices
examples*.
Good Practice Guide, in English, developed and edited by the University of Molise and composed of 31 best practice
examples identified during the workshops, is translated into all the languages of the project partners and printed in 500
copies for each partner.
* During the third workshop two good practice examples have had the same score and thus seven good practice examples were exceptionally
selected.
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Section
1
Effective approaches for diagnostic and
assessment services on innovative and/or
efficient production and operational processes
for the target sectors
WORKSHOP 1
Romania, 13-15 May 2013
Good Practice Examples Selected
Name
Who generated
Ismea - Business Plan Online
Ismea
Pigs Carcase Grading (PCG)
Q&D
Diagnostic and assessment service for SME regarding the
implementation of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in
the horticulture sector
Advisory
Centre
Agriculture
and
Development
Implementation of Unilever’s Sustainable Agricultural Code
for industrial tomato producers
Food:grade
Integrated management of orchards: innovation beyond
tradition (Apples of Trentino)
Fondazione Edmund Mach di
San Michele all’Adige
Diagnostic and assessment services to Animal Husbandry
Cooperatives and Fruits’ and Vegetables’ Agricultural
Cooperatives/Groups Producers
Georgiki Anaptixi S.A.
5
for
Rural
ISMEA – BUSINESS PLAN ONLINE
Presented by: UNIMOL
Name of
Company
the
 Ismea, Institute of Study, Research and Information on the Agricultural and Agrifood Market
Type
Company
of
 Public, economic body established by DPR (Decree of the President of the Republic) number
278 of May 28 1987 that works on behalf and under the overview of Agricultural Ministry.
Address
City and Region
183, Via Nomentana
 Roma
Postal code
 00161
Country
 Italy
 (+39) 0685568 663
Phone
(+39) 0685568400
Fax
E-mail

Website
www.ismea.it
DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERISTICS
General description of the practice
The service Business Plan Online (BPOL) is presented by the Institute for Agricultural Market Services and Food (Ismea),
and it as part of the activities funded by the Italian National Rural Network aimed at improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of public actions in favor of agricultural enterprises, by means of an accurate assessment of the investment
projects. BPOL is a web application that allows the preparation of a real business plan for agricultural, agro-industrial and
other sectors, ensuring an appreciable simplification of procedures for submission of the development of business plans
associated with RDP funding requests, as well as greater uniformity and simplicity of evaluation of investment projects.
However BPOL is a comprehensive service, which combines the on-line facility, training and technical assistance and
continuous with full support for its users (administration, technical compilers, etc.).
Description of the diagnose/assessment service
In detail, the application consists of a section of a qualitative and quantitative complementary to each other (2). The
qualitative section, consisting of descriptive masks charges, allows the compiler to provide a concise and representative
description of the company, the market frame, the project idea and the dynamics forecasting.
The quantitative part, however, is composed of a greater number of distinct input masks in the possible areas of activity
of the agricultural (crop, livestock, farm, etc.). In practical terms, the compiler is required (i) to detail the investment, (ii)
the sources of funding and any access to facilitation measures, (iii) the production data for the historic years and forecasts.
In particular, the compiler will indicate (iv) all business operations susceptible of detection for the preparation of plans
and (v) all the information of a productive, economic and monetary-financial needs (helped in this case by a simple guided
tour). Given that the aim of the BPOL is to acquire the actual data and specific to the individual company, it is interesting
to note that in the process of filling out some forms, the compiler can compare own data with other available data sources.
For example, during the data input of crop production, the compiler will have the opportunity to view the average values
of price (data ISMEA) and data yields (ISTAT) for the province in which the entity operates, the average working days
required for specific cultivations and information on equipment and machineries. After data input, the system returns the
actual financial statements for the last two years, and a budget estimate for different time periods. The financial statements
are divided into the three income statements, balance sheet and cash flow according to specific patterns reclassified to the
agricultural enterprise. It should be noted that the wording of the two balance sheets occurs from the individual
elementary charges of historical data or on the basis of the official budget figures, depending on whether the company
is a simplified accounting or an ordinary one. To enrich the output represented by the actual and forecasted financial
statements, BPOL provides different elaborations, in particular an analysis report for various business activities (e.g., crops,
livestock and related activities) as well as by type of management (operational, capital, financial, non-feature). In addition,
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the application returns to the user useful indicators of profitability, solidity and efficiency of proposed investment. The
set of output allows compiler to move to the analysis of economic and financial performance of the company overall,
with particular attention to the effects of the investment project on the production structure and the current business
activities.
Innovative elements used in providing diagnose/assessment service
The tool has several levels of innovation: Allows the reconstruction of the financial forecast driven budget (including
historical ones in the case of companies with no budget) by filling in online through the web; Is based on principles and
methods of forecasting analysis shared by agriculture, agribusiness and banking; Interfaces with the online file
management and with the databases on prices, yields, labor, and values; From the point of view of the platform, the
BPOL is a web application that can be used by any computer with a web browser. The backup of the data on the remote
server allows immediate assistance during the input phase.
DESCRIPTION OF THE NECESSARY RESOURCES TO PROVIDE ASSESMENT SERVICES
Economic resources
Cost for the development of the online platform and cost for training measures.
Staff
Staff expert in ICT.
Know-how
Technical assistance: training of farm advisors (10 days for 350 consultants); training of assessment body experts from
Regions (4 days for 25 experts); on-line support (web assistance and toll free number).
OBSTACLES
Technical, financial problems, etc. that have occurred
Basic difficulties related to the need to make predictions on future costs and prices of products. The structural instability
of agricultural markets even increases this problem. A further difficulty exists in Italy, where most of the farms is not
provided with accounting systems. The absence of accounting records makes extremely complex to assess the financial
performances of the farms in the previous years. The lack of reliable data makes any predictions on future costs and
revenues even more difficult.
Adopted measures in order to overcome the obstacles
One of the fundamental prerequisites of a business plan is the reliability. The BPOL model has been developed in
accordance with the techniques used for the construction of business plans in commercial enterprises. However, the
peculiarities of agriculture requires the identification of specific and implementation methodologies.
The detection and recognition of business operations at the level of basic information ensures that the process of
formulating the projections made in compliance with the methodologies employed in the model. Furthermore, evidence
of a clear summary and the possibility for the reader to see the masks filled, allow to easily understand the main elements
of the project and to verify the assumptions and the assumptions underlying the projections.
The reliability level of data reported, however, is protected by detection with the different sources of information. The
information available in the holding file (data, land property, machinery and equipment) are automatically imported into
the making masks that collect such information. In particular, the individual price data, yield and labour requirements
stated for each cultivation are systematically compared with the statistical data contained in the databases pointing out
gaps out of the range of tolerance calculated by the system. However, in relation to the wide variability expected in the
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agricultural world, no limitation is imposed in the data entry; however the system will simply report all inconsistencies and
discords.
STARTING POINT AND SITUATION NOW
Identified needs and starting point
1) Modern business planning methods in agriculture;
2) Integration among market, institutions and production databases;
3) Business self-evaluation for farmers (not based on empirical evaluation criteria);
4) Evaluation of the credit worthiness in agriculture.
Current situation and results of the practice
1) Actual increasing of the overall quality of the investment plans;
2) General standardization of the process (according to the basic international accounting system);
3) Improvement of the preliminary analysis of a project;
4) Simplification of ex-post controls;
5) Enhancing the global spending of public funds.
TRANSFER OF THE PRACTICE
Results that can be transferred
Implementation of the BPOL in Veneto Region: 1) Concerned measures: Youth Aid (measures 112, 111, 121, 114) and
measure 121; 2) Implementation period: November 2009 - December 2010; 3) Using the BPOL for the first tender
(measure 112 - Youth Aid) 15 Jan. – 12 Mar. 2010: 500 Business Plans submitted; 4) Technical assistance: training of farm
advisors (10 days for 350 consultants); training of assessment body experts from Regions (4 days for 25 experts); on-line
support (web assistance and toll free number); 5) Following phase, July – Sept. 2010: presentation of the BPOL for the
measure 121.
Miscellaneous (links and notes)
http://bpol.ismea.it/ISAM
8
PIG CARCASE GRADING (PCG)
Presented by: ERFC
Name of
Company
the
 Q&D
Type
Company
of
 Private sector
Address
City and Region
Scientific and Technological Postal code
Park of Epirus
 Ioannina
 45110
Country
 Greece
 (+30) 2651007679
Phone
(+30) 2651085120
Fax
E-mail
[email protected]
Website
www.q-d.gr



Calibration of pig carcass grading devices by dissection trials according to Commission Regulation (EEC)
1249/2008;
Implementation at slaughterhouse lines and personnel training;
Pig carcass grading according to SEUROP.

Evaluation of pig carcase quality characteristics and correlation to farm characteristics (breed, feeding ration,
etc.).
Trials are performed in each EU Member State in order to calibrate devices against national pig population attributes.
Trials are based on measurements performed by use of specialized devices (on a certain sample of pig carcases)
concerning:
o The thickness of back fat at one or two spots of the carcass;
o The thickness of the dorsal longitudinal muscle in one spot;
o Lean Meat Percentage (LMP) is obtained by carcass dissection according to EU Reference Method
(Walstra and Merkus 1995).
Recorded values are statistically analyzed and the regression equation with the best predictive ability is finally encompassed
in EU legislation for the estimation of LMP and grading of pig carcasses in commercial classes according to SEUROP
system.
 EU Decisions for the approval of pig carcass grading methods in a certain Member State define:
o The name and type of the approved classification device;
o A brief technical description of the device and its function principle;
o The formula used for the calculation of Lean Meat Percentage;
o The minimum and maximum weight of carcasses that may be graded by use of the certain method.
An example of a pig carcass grading formula (Commission Decision 2010/642/EU): Ŷ = 62,400 – 0,495Χ1– 0,559Χ2+
0,129Χ3 where:
Ŷ = the estimated percentage of lean meat in the carcass;
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Χ1= the thickness of back-fat (without rind) in millimeters, measured at 8 centimeters off the midline of the
carcase at the level of the last rib;
Χ2= the thickness of back-fat (without rind) in millimeters, measured at 6 centimeters off the midline of the
carcase between the third and fourth last ribs;
Χ3= the thickness of the dorsal muscle in millimeters, measured at the same time and in the same place as X2.
• This formula shall be valid for carcases weighing between 60 and 120 kilograms.


Use of calibrated and specialized devices to ensure accurate carcass classification;
Know-how on device calibration and implementation for grading of de-hided carcasses - a total different
presentation used only in Greece and a few other member states (Cyprus-Poland).
Added value elements given within the service


Prices are defined by carcass quality and lead farmers to increased awareness on farm management and
maximization of carcass LMP;
LMP can be related with other carcass and farm management attributes, thus boosting research.
Economic resources
Financial resources required.
Staff
A specialized vet and experienced butchers have to be employed by to record measurements and to perform carcass
dissections.
Know-how
Trained personnel.
OBSTACLES



High cost of device calibration;
Cost of grading devices at a time of crisis;
Low awareness of the added value to the final product due to the lack of a quality related national price system.
Training and extroversion towards the advantages offered.


Q&D S.A. is specializing on PCG during the last five years and more devices will be soon available for use in
Greece;
PCG will be operative by all slaughterhouses in Greece due to EU legislation requirements.
10
PQC is pilot operative by a number of slaughterhouses in Greece.



PCG is transferable without any particular restrictions;
Slaughterhouse personnel can be easily trained on device use and pig carcass grading;
Financing tools and operational fees may be used to balance calibration and implementation costs.
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:280:0060:0061:EN:PDF
11
DIAGNOSTIC AND ASSESSMENT SERVICE FOR SME REGARDING
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED PEST
MANAGEMENT (IPM) IN THE HORTICULTURE SECTOR
Presented by: BEF
Name of
Company
the
 Advisory Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development
Type
Company
of
 Limited liability company
Address
City and Region
1, Gladston str.
 Plovdiv
Postal code
 4000
Country
 Bulgaria
 (+35) 932262632
Phone
(+35) 9886964595
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.caard.bg
The IPM is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management which relies on a combination of
common-sense practices. It is an intelligent selection and use of pest control actions that will ensure favorable economic,
ecological and sociological consequences. The IPM applies to numerous sectors of activity such as Agriculture,
Horticulture, Gardening, Commercial Industry and Home. IPM programs use current, comprehensive information on
the life cycles of pests and their interaction with the environment. This information, in combination with available pest
control methods, is used to manage pest related damage by the most economical means, and with the least possible hazard
to people, property, and the environment. IPM is a perfect match for organic farming as well for large-scale, chemicalbased farms because it can reduce human and environmental exposure to hazardous chemicals, and potentially lower
overall costs of pesticide application material and labour. The IPM was formulated and has existed in the USA since the
early 70’s of the last century and now it is a very important set of practices in agriculture and organic farming.
The diagnostic and assessment services for IPM are very important for the correct implementation. They are based on
knowledge, experience, observation, and integration of multiple techniques.
The assessment process includes:
1. Field visits to the farm and work meetings with the manager and the specialized staff in order to get knowledge
of the current situation;
2. Risk assessment which is really important and it is usually characterized by four issues: characterization and
identification of biological control agents, health risks, environmental risks, and efficacy;
3. Characterization and identification of biological control agents - cases of mistaken identity may result in
ineffective actions. If plant damage is due to over-watering, it could be mistaken for fungal infection, since many
fungal and viral infections arise under moist conditions. This could lead to spray costs, but the plant would be
no better off;
4. Crop scouting is precise assessment of pest pressure (typically insects) and crop performance to evaluate
economic risk from pest infestations and disease, and the potential effectiveness of pest and disease control
interventions. Performance monitoring and sample environment sampling for pest population: i.e. is the pest
12
present/absent? How many are here? What is the distribution - all over or only in certain spots? Is the pest
population increasing, decreasing or remaining constant? Monitoring might also include the status of the water
source being used for irrigation, which could potentially contaminate an area with water borne diseases or spread
pests;
5. Establish action threshold (economic, health or aesthetic) - How many are too many? In some cases, there are a
standardized number of pests that can be tolerated. Soybeans are quite tolerant of defoliation, so if there are a
few caterpillars in the field and their population is not increasing dramatically, action may not be necessary.
Conversely, there is a point at which action must be taken to control cost. For the SME, that point is the one at
which the cost of damage by the pest is more than the cost of control. This is an economic threshold. Tolerance
of pests varies also by whether or not they are a health hazard (low tolerance) or merely a cosmetic damage (high
tolerance in a non-commercial situation). Different sites may also have varying requirements based on specific
areas.
Proposed solutions:
1. Preventative actions must be taken at the correct time if they are to be effective. For this reason, once the pest
is correctly identified, monitoring must begin before it becomes a problem;
2. Appropriate combination of management tactics. For any pest situation, there will be several options to consider.
Options include mechanical or physical control, cultural controls, biological controls and chemical controls;
 Mechanical or physical controls include picking pests off plants, or using netting or other material to exclude
pests such as birds from grapes or rodents from structures;
 Cultural controls include: keeping an area free of conducive conditions by removing or storing waste properly,
removing diseased areas of plants properly, late water flooding, sanding, and the use of disease-resistant
varieties;
 Biological controls are numerous. They include: conservation of natural predators or augmentation of
natural predators;
 Chemical controls would include horticultural oils or the application of pesticides, such as: insecticides and
herbicides;
3. Provide training to the SME staff as to what constitutes a pest, the host life cycle and its biology. For instance at
the time you see a pest, it may be too late to do much about it except maybe spray with a pesticide. Often, there
is another stage of the life cycle that is susceptible to preventative actions. For example, weeds reproducing from
last year’s seed can be prevented with mulches and pre-emergent herbicide. Also, learning what a pest needs to
survive allows you to remove this aspect;
4. Evaluation of the results - How did it work? Evaluation is often one of the most important steps. This is the
process of reviewing an IPM program and the results it generated. Asking the following questions is useful: Did
actions have the desired effect? Was the pest prevented or managed to farmer satisfaction? Was the method
itself satisfactory? Were there any unintended side effects? What can be done in the future regarding this pest
situation? Understanding the effectiveness of the IPM program allows the site manager to make modifications
to the IPM plan prior to pests reaching the action threshold and requiring action again.
The IPM is a set of practices which nowadays is geared to new technologies. Keeping up to date with the new techniques
gives the best options available to when using IPM. New tools are available to increase the effectiveness of IPM, including
specialized field instruments and handheld computers with GPS, enabling geo-tagging of crop problems. Crop scouting
software systems (CropIQ, Optimizer, etc.) are extremely helpful in order precisely and accurately to locate and tag crop
issues, replicate them on an aerial map and make decisions for site-specific treatments.
13



Reduce human and environmental exposure to hazardous chemicals;
Lower overall costs of pesticide application material and labor;
Better economic performance.
Economic resources
Office, four wheel drive car(s), office equipment, appropriate hardware and software, specialized tools.
Staff
Administration 1-2 persons, field experts – several depending on the activity.
Know-how



Training concerning the diagnosis and assessment techniques and the specialized software;
Networking;
Exchange of good practice.
OBSTACLES


Difficulty to find competent people to provide such kind of assessment services;
Due to the economic crisis in Bulgaria, problems of finding the needed financial resources because the banks
have very high criteria for allowing a loan and the interest rates are also very high.


Contacting the agricultural universities and colleges in order to find the right people to employ;
Property mortgage in order to receive a loan.
In 2007, this kind of private consulting services like IPM was not very popular among the SME in the horticulture sector
and they preferred to consult the State administration (National Agricultural Advisory Service and the National Service
for Plant Protection, Quarantine and Agrochemistry) or the retailers of agrochemistrial products because this service was
free of charge. However they were not always completely happy with the final results of these services. The Advisory
Centre for Agriculture and Rural Development has identified a market possibility for development in this field and has
started to organize this new activity.
Now the situation has evolved. More and more SME have changed their way of thinking and now they understand the
importance of a good quality service concerning IMP. The demand of such services has also increased in Bulgaria because
people realized the importance of an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to pest management.
14
Diagnosis and assessment procedure and techniques.
IPM specialized software – Optimizer: http://www.optmzr.co/
IPM specialized software – CropIQ: http://www.cropiq.com/
15
IMPLEMENTATION OF UNILEVER’S SUSTAINABLE
AGRICULTURAL CODE FOR INDUSTRIAL TOMATO PRODUCERS
Presented by: CERTH / IRETETH
Name of
Company
the
 Food:grade
Type
Company
of
 Personal
Address
City and Region
Kolokotroni str 56
 Karditsa/Thessaly
Postal code
 TK43100
Country
 Greece
Phone
(+30) 2441301203/ 6974859168 Fax
E-mail
Website
 (+30) 2108032413
www.foodgrade.gr
Food:grade business consulting has helped producers of industrial tomato to meet the demands of Unilever’s Sustainable
Agriculture Code (aka SAC) and Damavant’s procuring policies, so that they were able to continue to supply Damavant
Ltd. with their products. The product of main focus was industrial tomato and this practice was implemented during the
cultivation period 2012-2013.
A custom made preparedness questionnaire was sent out to the producers so that Food:grade was able to make a first
assessment and classification of the participating producers. When the questionnaires were returned and debriefed there
was a field and farm visit of all the participating producers. Then tailor made solutions were sent to the producers
describing the corrective actions that needed to be made in order to meet SAC’s requirements. So the phases were:
1. Preparation of questionnaire;
2. Collection of data from producers;
3. Assessment of data;
4. Field visits based on initial findings;
5. Assessment reports sent to producers;
6. Implementation of corrective actions.
The following software was used in order to calculate several farming aspects:
1. QuickFire from Muddy Boots. Quickfire from Muddy Boots is a comprehensive audit management system for
technical teams to effectively schedule and complete audits and visits and efficiently manage outcomes internally
or at supply sides;
2. Cool Farm Tool. The Cool Farm Tool is a greenhouse gas calculator for growers to help them measure the
carbon footprint of crop and livestock products;
3. Haifa NutriNet which is a powerful tool made to help growers to plan irrigation schemes and nutrigation
(fertigation) programs considering actual growth conditions.
16
Economic resources
Project was funded by Damavant Ltd.
Staff
Two Agriculturists from Food:grade and one Agriculturist from Damavant.
Know-how
Sustainable Agricultural Code training session (20 hours) in Rotterdam by Control Union.
OBSTACLES
Producers were reluctant to implement Sustainable Agricultural Code as they feared that it was going to add cost to their
production costs.
Damavant Ltd. offered premium prices for the products (industrial tomato) of those producers that were able to
successfully meet SAC’s requirements.
Producers were using fertilizers and irrigation water, without a planned schedule but on a practical experience level.
Resources were not monitored.
Producers participating in the project are successfully implementing requirements set by Sustainable Agricultural Code
whilst they managed to lower their production costs through careful monitoring of fertilizers and irrigation water usage.
Results showed that the carbon footprint of their crops has been greatly reduced.
The monitoring system and SAC requirements can be transferred to other crops and livestock.
http://www.unilever.com./sustainable-living/customers-suppliers/suppliers/index.aspx
http://www.unilever.com./images/USLP-Progress-Report-2012-FI_tcm13-352007.pdf
17
INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF ORCHARDS: INNOVATION
BEYOND TRADITION
Name of
Company
the
 Fondazione Edmund Mach di San Michele all’Adige
Type
Company
of
 Foundation
Address
City and Region
Via E. Mach, 1
 S. Michele all’Adige (TN)
Postal code
 38010
Country
 Italy

Phone
(+39) 0461 615455
Fax
E-mail

Website
www.fmach.it
In 1874 the Diet of Innsbruck chose the Austrian doctor Edmund Mach as director.
Edmund Mach, a young and brilliant researcher assistant, presented a project of a farm experimental station alongside
the school. The institute was designed to serve the inhabitants of the Tyrol on both sides of the Alps, both German and
Italian speaking.
The original statute established that the role of the school was not only to train competent farmers, but also to coordinate
its activity with the experimental station and the farm, seeking to improve the characteristics and potential of agriculture.
It was an approach which was to characterize the institute throughout its history and which today takes concrete form in
the relations between the school, research and technical support provided to companies and farm.
It is a prestigious institution which has achieved many important goals at international level over the years, in relation to
education and training, research and technology transfer in the fields of agriculture, food processing and the
environmental. Extensive research has taken place in the last few years, in several fields: healthiness of agriculture, food
products, genetic research on vines and apples, environmental protection, climate change, fruit and vine cultivation,
enology and aspects related to animal husbandry, fish farming, forestry and other areas. The foundation provides support
to over 8000 farms in Trentino.
The foundation shall provide diagnosis and assessment services on the:
 Agronomic management at farm level (pruning, thinning, force management, nutrition, irrigation);
 Agronomic management at territorial level (warning systems in the disease management, e.g. pheromone traps).
Management information system technical and territorial warning about the evolution of the main diseases and/or
agronomic practices, with instructions and suggestions that may be useful to the farmer to manage the practices employed
in the company:
 Fruit ripening patterns;
 Annual fruit yield forecasts (estimation);
 Varietal genetic identification;
 Land suitability and zoning projects (fruit and soil);
18
 Surveillance and monitoring of plant diseases of quarantine;
 Cultivation techniques;
 Agronomic techniques;
 Plant management and mechanization.
Quality, safety and certification:
 Technical support for bureaucratic procedures for achieving certification;
 System certification;
 Product certification;
 Designations of origin;
 Quality mark Trentino;
 Traceability system;
 Voluntary certification.
Training on health and safety in the workplace through specific courses and seminars and assistance to farms in the
assessment of the risks present and in the drafting of the derivative “Document on Risk Assessment”.
Technical support in order to implement HACCP systems in the context of self-sanitation in the food sector and of
systems for traceability of products, for compliance with the requirements of the law.
Apple pre-harvest analysis
The service allows you to follow the course of maturation of different apple cultivars in Trentino, with the objective of
finding the optimal harvest time for maintenance, even during storage, the best qualitative characteristics of the fruit.
Post-harvest support services for:
 The proper freezing system management;
 Post-harvest problems:
o Prevention of diseases during conservation.
The foundation is characterized by:
 Education and Training Center, Research and Innovation Centre, Technology Transfer Center;
 Education and Training Center: a teaching facility complex which simultaneously manages the training and
education in the field of agriculture, environment and forestry output at different levels of learning: on the one
addressed directly to farmers to university and highly specialized;
 Research and Innovation: A research center that conducts studies in agriculture, food and the environment in
order to contribute to improving the quality of life and social and economic growth;
 Technology Transfer Center: Represents the structure in the greater geographical spread of the Foundation for
applied research and experimentation, services and consultancy in favor of agro-forestry and environment.
Anticipate the needs of the area, understand their problems, investigate solutions and disseminate knowledge to
maintain high quality in the production environment are the key points of the Centre.
Technologists and technicians develop and promote innovations in the area of process and product in order to achieve
sustainable agrifood goods by minimizing the use of chemicals and rationalizing the use of environmental resources.
19
The applied research and experimental studies advanced technical solutions for the environmental, social and economic
productions and for the quality and safety of food products.
Specialized laboratories provide analytical services to companies and public bodies in the fields of agricultural chemistry
and wine, microbiology and plant disease diagnosis.
More than 70 experts offer daily technical advisory services to more than 8000 farms in Trentino, supported by an agrometeorological network and a capillary system of disseminating information.
Economic resources
Regional funding and payment by the farmers.
Staff
120 researchers, 50 doctorate students, over 100 teachers, over 150 technicians and technologist.
Know-how
By the Education and Training Center.
Improvement of the agronomic management of the orchards (pruning, thinning, force management, nutrition orchard,
irrigation), in the management of the territorial defense of the orchard and warning systems (ground surveillance, e.g.
management of pheromone traps). Improve quality, safety and certification, Apple pre-harvest analysis, post-harvest
problems.
Throughout the system: Education and Training Center, Research and Innovation Centre, Technology Transfer Center.
http://www.fmach.it/Centro-Trasferimento-Tecnologico
http://issuu.com/fondazionemach/docs/brochure_fem?mode=window
http://www.fmach.it/Comunicazione/Ufficio-stampa/Foto
http://www.fmach.it/Centro-Trasferimento-Tecnologico/Pubblicazioni/Rapporto-di-attivita
http://www.fmach.it/Centro-Trasferimento-Tecnologico/Pubblicazioni
20
DIAGNOSTIC AND ASSESSMENT SERVICES TO ANIMAL
HUSBANDRY COOPERATIVES AND FRUITS’ AND VEGETABLES’
AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES/GROUPS PRODUCERS
Name of
Company
the
 Georgiki Anaptixi S.A.
Type
Company
of
 Private Consultant Company
Address
City and Region
111 Socratous Str.
 Larissa/Thessaly
Postal code
 41336
Country
 Greece
 (+30) 2410 554 075
Phone
(+30) 2410553203
Fax
E-mail

Website
www.georgikianaptixi.gr
Georgiki Anaptixi S.A. is a dynamic company of business consultants which was founded in 1993 in Larissa and is
engaged in providing synchronous comprehensive services both to agricultural cooperatives and producer groups and to
individual producers as well in Greece and abroad.
The areas of activity of the company are:
 Informing – training – support for farmers and/or breeders and their associations;
 Organization and Management;
 Quality Assurance Systems;
 Feasibility Reports, Vitality and Prospects Reports.
The company is applying Quality Management System which complies with the requirements of EN ISO 9001:2000,
provides high quality consultant and support services on national and international level. More specifically:
 Services in Quality Assurance Systems;
 Services in Support and Management of Agricultural Cooperatives and Producer Groups;
 Services of Rural – Economic Investigations;
 Provision of Agricultural Consultant;
 Training of farmers and members of agricultural cooperatives;
 Innovative Actions (Establishment, Organization and Management of Cooperatives and Producer Groups and
Creation and Development of Local Quality Agreement).
The first step after the initial meeting with the agricultural cooperative is the needs and perspectives diagnose. Then,
exploiting the market possibilities and perspectives a business plan is created for the better organization and management
of the cooperative in order to be reclaimed the best ways of funding and sales or commercialization.
21
No specialized software is used for the assessment services but new technologies are used for the better communication
among the company and cooperatives. Apart from the face to face communication and visits on the spot social media
are used as well as Skype meetings are organized very often as the company is activated throughout Greece.
Connecting producers with synchronous technology for the better organization of their cooperative and the disposal of
their products to the market.
Economic resources
Private company.
Staff
The human capital of the company is composed of professional conscientiously executives with vast knowledge,
experience and expertise in the fields of action. The permanent staff of the company is currently 8 people while the
company cooperates with a number of external collaborators depending on the needs.
Know-how
The statutory staff of the company participates in conferences and meetings which are in relevance with the sustainable
agriculture and its perspectives. Furthermore, they are trained in several subjects (i.e. agriculture, animal husbandry,
consultancy, etc.) in annual base.
OBSTACLES


The unique perspective of cooperation in recent years in Greece has been discredited;
The difficulty of financing from the banking system does not help the production process with the required
resources.



Training and demonstration of good practice in collective – cooperative actions;
Promotion of Contractual Agriculture;
Better financing opportunities.
The support department demonstrates a remarkable work supporting stably and reliably seventy (70) Producer Groups
or Organizations that operate all around Greece by achieving large amounts of funding. The company has provided
consultant and guidance services to 31 Producer Groups for their five-year plans for gradual recognition, 9 four years’
Action Plans and 108 Operational Programmes of Producer Organizations for three or five years. Currently are in
progress and supported 10 Plans for gradual recognition of Producer Groups and 35 Operational Programmes of
Producer Organization. In addition, the last two years the company has an innovative action in the field of animal
22
husbandry, contributing to the establishment of the first Animal Husbandry Cooperatives – Producer Groups. Specifically,
it has established a cattle cooperative and three sheep and goats cooperatives throughout Greece.
Groups Producers – Agricultural cooperatives good practice.
More information at www.georgikianaptixi.gr
23
Section
2
Effective approaches in financial support tools for
SMEs in the old, new Member states and
candidate countries and how to provide support
for SMEs to inform about their availability and
access them
WORKSHOP 2
Italy, 22-24 July 2013
Name
Who generated
IPARD online information toolkit
Center for promotion of
sustainable agricultural
practices and rural
development - CeProSARD
Business support to farmers for access to finance
Agriculture Farm Consulting –
George Ch. Dimokas
www.trovaagevolazioni.it: the online tool to finance your
investments
EUROCONS
Financial instruments and services in smaller towns and rural
areas
JOBS Centres Network Project
Agevolazioni alle imprese (SMEs Facilitation.it)
Telematica Italia
Access to Finance in Agro Business
Macedonia Innovation Center
24
IPARD ONLINE INFORMATION TOOLKIT
Presented by: FFRM
Name of
Company
the
 Center for promotion of sustainable agricultural practices and rural development - CeProSARD
Type
Company
of
 CSO
Address
City and Region
Orce Nikolov 172
 Skopje
Postal code
 1000
Country
 Republic of Macedonia
 (+38) 923061391
Phone
(+38) 923061391
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.ceprosard.org.mk
The Center for Promotion of Sustainable Agricultural Practices and Rural Development – CeProSARD is nongovernmental organization working in the field of agriculture and rural development in Republic of Macedonia. As a
country with candidate status, Republic of Macedonia is using EU pre-accession funds. The Instrument for Pre-accession
Assistance for Rural Development (IPARD) is one of them.
The funds are aimed at precisely defined measures in the IPARD programme, including:
 MEASURE 101 – Investment in agricultural holdings to restructure and to upgrade to Community standards;
 MEASURE 103 – Investments in the processing and marketing of agriculture products to restructure those
activities and to upgrade them to Community standards;
 MEASURE 302 – Diversification and development of diversification activities.
Therefore CeProSARD has prepared an IPARD online information toolkit with useful information for all potential
applicants interested in using these funds.
The online information toolkit includes all relevant information necessary for the application process, including:
 Application documents;
 Available bank loans;
 Contact information of companies - suppliers/producers of equipment and consultants eligible for IPARD
funding;
 Contact information of relevant consultants for supporting the application process;
 Relevant documents, laws, rulebooks, etc.
The main purpose for creation of this tool was to facilitate access to the excessive documentation which was hard to
follow during the application process.
Description of services provided by business support organization
IPARD online information toolkit is developed as free of charge, easy to access and user friendly tool. It doesn’t require
any log in procedures either accounts and it has all the relative information’s regarding IPARD program such as:
application documents, available bank loans and contact information of companies - suppliers/producers of equipment
eligible for IPARD funding, contact information of relevant consultants for supporting the application process and
relevant documents, laws, rulebooks, etc. Till this moment it has 70 registered local enterprises (consultant and
25
suppliers/producers of equipment). It is regularly visited by farmers with basic knowledge of IT and computer skills and
also National Extension Agency Advisors and private consultants in the process of consulting of the farmers for issues
related to IPARD.
Innovative elements used
The innovative element of this tool is the single point information which is easy to access. In addition it doesn’t need any
specific training course for usage of the tool.
Added value elements
Simplifying of the extensive documentation of the IPARD programme and practical manner of organizing of all
documentation and information for each of the measures and specific types of investments adds extra value. Also the
latest news registration component of the tool helps getting on-time information regarding IPARD programme.
DESCRIPTION OF THE NECESSARY RESOURCES TO ASSURE THE SERVICES
Economic resources
The development of the tool was primary supported from the Sida/MASSP2 programme with € 12.500,00 grant
completed in December 2010. After this CeProSARD has actively continued to update the IPARD online information
toolkit providing human and financial resources for maintenance of the software for the tool.
Staff
Because of its IT component IPARD online information toolkit requires engagement of professional softwaredevelopment company. Also at the beginning for the information upload it required two staff team which gathered the
required information and prepare the documents in specific manner needed for the software development company.
After uploading of the information, it only requires half-time employee which will “feed” the IPARD online information
toolkit with latest information in coordination with software-development company.
Know-how
The tool doesn’t require any know-how or training of the personnel.
OBSTACLES & SUCCESS FACTORS
Technical, financial problems, knowledge barriers, etc. that have occurred
There are two identified problems which had occurred in the development and implementation of the IPARD online
information toolkit.
Firstly, because it is an online tool they had experienced several times malfunction due to problems with the internet
connection and the internet service provider.
Secondly, as a problem they had identified the financial sustainability required for maintenance of the tool.
For successful development and maintenance of the tool it will require selection of professional and proven internet
service provider. Also they can point out the relevance of the software development company.
In the case of the financial sustainability of the tool, they are promoting the tool as marketing opportunity for the
companies - suppliers/producers of equipment eligible for IPARD funding. In this manner they had prepared pricelist
for commercial ad on the IPARD online information toolkit.
26
Success factors that facilitate service delivery
Main factors that are key for success are good established communication channels with the relevant government
institutions that produce, disseminate document and information and work on the implementation on the IPARD
programme. Also crucial factor is the promotion of the tool and visibility of the advantages of its use through media.
From its initial development, the tool was primary designed just to inform the farmers about the IPARD programme.
This arrived form the complexity of the IPARD program manual which was detected from the farmers as “hard to
follow”.
After the needs assessment it was tailor-made to meet all requirements of potential applicant for the programme.
Therefore it was upgraded with list of consultants for each type of investment and also companies - suppliers/producers
of equipment eligible for IPARD funding. It’s easy to access model helps the potential applicants to gain all relevant
information and to be prepared in time for the deadline for application.
This toll can be easily transferred in different financial support programs regardless of the country or the origin of the
programme.
IPARD online information toolkit: http://www.ceprosard.org.mk/IPARD/Default.aspx
The IPARD online information toolkit has links form the web pages from the Federation of Farmers in the
Republic of Macedonia – www.ffrm.org.mk and the website specialized for selling and procurement of agricultural
and forestry products and services – www.infoagri.net .
27
BUSINESS SUPPORT TO FARMERS FOR ACCESS TO FINANCE
Name of
Company
the
 Agriculture Farm Consulting – George Ch. Dimokas
Type
Company
of
 Personal business
Address
City and Region
Gianni Dimou 116B
 Volos/Magnesia
Postal code
 38221
Country
 Greece

Phone
(+30) 2421045055
Fax
E-mail
[email protected]
Website

The company was established in 2011 by the agronomist George Dimokas as a personal business in Agriculture Farm
Consulting to offer services in the elaboration of Agricultural, Geotechnical & Environmental Studies, with indicative
areas of activity:
1. Installation of young farmers;
2. Modernization of agricultural holdings;
3. Agro-environmental funding: “Organic farming”;
4. Agro-environmental funding: “Organic Livestock”;
5. Agro-environmental funding: “Protection of nitrate-sensitive areas”;
6. Agro-environmental funding: “Conservation of endangered indigenous livestock breeds”.
Indicative list of services provided by the company:
 Installation of young farmers: The aim of the scheme is to revitalize rural population and enhancing human
capital to enhance the competitiveness of the agricultural sector. The aim is to provide financial assistance to
facilitate the establishment of young farmers under the age of 40 years (from 15 thousand to 20 thousand euro),
who possess adequate professional capacity, installed for the first time as the head of the farm and implement
business plans for growth agricultural activities;
 Modernization of agricultural holdings: The purpose of this is to establish the necessary institutional framework
for the effective management, implementation and monitoring of aid schemes under Article 2 of this support
for investment in agricultural holdings under Measure 1.2.1 “Modernization of agricultural holdings” of Axis 1
“Improving the competitiveness of agriculture and forestry” Programme “Rural Development in Greece 20072013”. The amount of investment depends on the type of each producer and ranges between 50.000,00 and
500.000,00 euro;
 Agro-environmental funding: The aim of the action 1.1 “Organic farming” measure 2.1.4 is:
i.
Protection of natural resources (soil, water, air) and the preservation of biodiversity; ii) Sustainable
development; iii) Offer guarantees to consumers for safe agricultural products;
 Agro-environmental funding: The aim of the action 1.2 “Organic Livestock” measure 2.1.4 is:
28
i.


The protection of natural resources and conservation of biodiversity; ii) Sustainable pasture
management; iii) Improving animal welfare; iv) The offer guarantees to consumers for safe animal
products;
Agro-environmental funding: The aim of the action 2.1 “Protection of nitrate-sensitive areas” of the measure
2.1.4 is the restoration of the environment through:
i.
Reduction of the applied fertilizer projected in the respective Action Plans; ii) Reducing water
consumption; iii) The establishment of ecological compensation areas;
Agro-environmental funding: The aim of the action 3.1 “Conservation of endangered indigenous livestock
breeds” of Measure 2.1.4 is to support farmers to maintain or increase the number of threatened indigenous
livestock breeds until a minimum acceptable number security to:
i.
Biodiversity/conservation of indigenous livestock at risk of extinction; ii) The preservation of
traditional extensive farming systems; iii) Achieving the goal to strengthen both the breeding male
animals and female breeding animals and the action “Conservation of genetic resources in farming”.
Economic resources
Installation of young farmers: € 1.000,00 for the application and € 500,00 for the 2nd and 3rd payment of the programme
to the farmer; Modernization of agricultural holdings: € 500 for the application and € 1.000,00 for the 2nd and 3rd
payment of the programme to the farmer; Agro-environmental funding: “Organic farming”: 15 euro per hectare; Agroenvironmental funding: “Organic Livestock”: 2 euro per animal; Agro-environmental funding: “Protection of nitratesensitive areas”: 15 euro per hectare; Agro-environmental funding: “Conservation of endangered indigenous livestock
breeds”: 2 euro per animal.
Staff
The staff of the company is organized as follows:
1. Dr MSc Agronomist George Dimokas - Director;
2. Agronomist MSc Partnena Nicolaides - Employee;
3. Agronomist MSc. Anastasia Charilaou - Employee.
Dr George Dimokas is responsible for the following sectors of business:
Installation of young farmers; Farm advisory services in operation and provision of advice in forestry; Modernization of
agricultural holdings; Entrepreneurship in rural areas; EU funding through the National Framework Programmmes.
Mrs. Parthena. Nicolaides is responsible for the following sectors of business:
Early retirement of farmers and farm workers; Modernization of agricultural holdings; Participation of farmers in food
quality projects; Holdings undergoing restructuring due to reforms of the common market; Agro-environment funding
(Organic Farming, Organic Livestock, Protection of sensitive nitrates areas, conservation of endangered indigenous
livestock breeds); Afforestation of agricultural land; Basic services for the economy and the rural population; Renovation
and development of villages; Conservation and upgrading of the rural heritage; Design - Construction of Gardens;
Environmental Studies & Waste Management Studies; Renewal - Replacement of drilling permits; Poultry livestock
buildings.
Mrs. MSc. Anastasia A. Charilaou is responsible for the following sectors of business:
29
Agro-environmental funding (Organic Farming, Organic Livestock, Protection of sensitive nitrates areas, conservation
of endangered indigenous livestock breeds); Feasibility Study - Accounting; Transfer of rights; Certification of farmers;
Real Estate; Study of fertilization - Pesticides - Production.
Know-how
The personnel of the company is constantly improving its know-how through the participation in various seminars related
both to agronomy and funding opportunities.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Low Education level of the farmers;
Difficulty to implement the programme (farmers);
Mistakes in understanding the obligations within the funded programme;
Missing financial documentation of the farmer;
Inadequate filing system (income/expenditures);
Non-conforming with the Code of Good Agricultural Practice;
Lack of knowledge of the Common Agricultural Policy.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Information on the Code of Good Agricultural Practice;
Information on the new Common Agricultural Policy;
Update on Organic Program, Protection of sensitive areas nitrates, Integrated Crop Management;
Keeping records on income - business expenses producers;
Property record keeping;
Knowledge and evaluation of the cost of each action under annual farming operations.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Increase in production capacity;
Increased entrepreneurship/opening to new markets/techniques;
Reducing cost per unit;
Improving the quality of products and services;
Energy saving and environmental protection;
Maintaining and enhancing job positions;
Developing green technologies.
1. Increase in production capacity. Use of new technologies with reduced energy consumption and greater capacity;
2. Increase openness. Production of high value added products at competitive prices and export them to foreign
markets;
3. Reducing unit cost. Use of new technologies for reduced energy use;
30
4. Improving the quality of products and services. Production of Organic Farming or Integrated Management in
compliance with the Code of Good Agricultural Practice;
5. Energy saving and environmental protection. Use of new technologies with reduced energy consumption and
production of Organic Farming or Integrated Management in compliance with the Code of Good Agricultural
Practice.
1. Increase in production capacity. Use of new technologies with reduced energy consumption and greater capacity.
Financial package: Modernization of agricultural holdings with investment financing from 40% to 75% and
investment volume of 50 thousand to 500 thousand euro;
2. Increase in openness. Production of high value added products at competitive prices and export to foreign
markets. Financial package: Extraversion with investment financing from 40% to 60% and investment of
1.000.000,00 euro;
3. Reducing unit cost. Use of new technologies. Financial package: Modernization of agricultural holdings with
investment financing from 40% to 75% and investment volume of 50 thousand to 500 thousand euro;
4. Improving the quality of products and services. Production of Organic Farming or Integrated Management in
compliance with the Code of Good Agricultural Practice. Financial package: Agro-environmental aid (funding
depending on the programme);
5. Energy saving and environmental protection. Use of new technologies with reduced energy consumption and
production of Organic Farming or Integrated Management in compliance with the Code of Good Agricultural
Practice. Financing packages: Agro-environmental aid (funding depending on the programme) and
modernization of agricultural holdings with investment financing from 40% to 75% and investment volume of
50 thousand to 500 thousand euro.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Use of common software (shared at EU level), common EU programmes;
Cluster development business;
Linking business consulting services in the European Union;
e-Consultancy;
e-Business;
Use technology for video conferencing.
31
TROVAAGEVOLAZIONI.IT: THE ONLINE TOOL TO FINANCE
YOUR INVESTMENTS
Name of
Company
the
 EUROCONS
Type
Company
of
 S.c.a.r.l.
Address
City and Region
Via Perugia, 56
 Torino
Postal code
 10152
Country
 Italy
 (+39) 011238283
Phone
(+39) 01124191
Fax
E-mail

Website
www.eurogroup.it
http://www.eurogroup.biz/web
The website www.trovagevolazioni.it (Eurocons) is a free information service for SMEs which allows easy and immediate
search for contract facilitation, chosen among the most qualified Italian companies.
The brand Eurogroup, through the services of credit guarantee Eurofidi, the provision of advisory services Eurocons
and energy solutions proposed by Euroenergy, identifies and offer extended and integrated products for the development
of small and medium enterprises.
The Eurogroup brand was created in 1999 by the will of Finpiemonte, the Financial Institute of the Piedmont Region
(now Finpiemonte Investments), to distinguish the offer of services in favor of SMEs Eurofidi and Eurocons.
The two operating entities, however, have a more complex story: Eurofidi was established in 1979, while Eurocons starts
to operate in 1994. Thanks to the development of an extensive network of branches, Eurogroup today is a recognized
brand for value products targeted at SMEs. It has office in North, Central Italy and Campania. The rest of the Peninsula
is the subject of a gradual process of coverage.
The aim of Eurofidi is to ensure small and medium sized businesses greater access to credit through the provision of
guarantees.
Eurofidi is the largest Italian consortia and one of the biggest international reality warranty. On behalf of its member
companies, the banking system has disbursed loans amounting to almost € 6.7 billion (2.5 billion only in 2012), with over
€ 3.6 billion of guarantees (1.3 billion over the 2012).
Starting in 1999, the consultancy Eurocons and credit guarantee services of Eurofidi (the largest Italian consortia and
one of the major subjects of the Europeans credit guarantee) are covered by the mark Eurogroup. The integrated range
of services, under the “Eurogroup system”, means that the member companies can enjoy a package of activities covering
the many different needs of an enterprise.
Eurocons, a consortium company for business consulting with limited liability, is a specialized consulting for SMEs.
Operating since 1994 with the aim to help businesses take advantage of the financial incentives provided by federal,
national and Community in subsequent years has increased its range of activities.
The main areas on which it operates Eurocons are: easy finance, management consulting, power quality systems,
internationalization and management consulting and strategic for business.
32
Operating since 1994, Eurocons aims to provide small and medium-sized businesses expert advice and complete the
complex world of financial relief. In 1998, the Finance Department is thus flanked from the Facilitated Systems for
Quality, designed to help SMEs in the acquisition of the most important system and product certification. In 2004, comes
the Area Management Consulting, which aims to support SMEs in the presentation of its financial data. In 2009, it was
the turn of the Area Management consulting and strategic, which aims to support SMEs in defining the best strategies
for growth and exit from the crisis. In that same year, the Energy segment is created.
In 2009, Eurocons gave birth to Euroenergy, joint-stock company which aims to provide companies of all Italian
engineering solutions “turnkey” in the field of renewable energy.
At 31 December 2012, and Eurofidi Eurocons associating a total of over 53000 businesses across Italy.
The website is produced by Eurocons S.c.a.r.l. that, through its R&D Office (Research and Development) select call for
proposal at European, national, regional and local levels in order to identify the best suited opportunity for SMEs. The
list is available through the website with a fast search that allows you to filter calls according to their launching date,
reference sector and/or region in which the project could be realized.
Eurocons is a reality of business consultancy specialized for small and medium-sized enterprises. Through the services
offered by Areas facilitated Finance, Management Consulting, Systems for Quality, Management consulting and strategic
and Energy, the company provides concrete and effective answers to every need of the business. Joining Eurocons is
easy: the end of 2012, there were more than 42000 SMEs that have benefited from his consulting services.
Today there are five main areas of activity in which focuses on consulting service:
 Facilitated Finance;
 Systems for Quality;
 Management Consulting;
 Management consulting and strategic;
 Energy.
Eurocons, a consortium company for business consulting, it can provide its services exclusively to members. Members
could access alone or jointly from different sector of activities: industrial, commercial, agricultural, services, artisanal
production of goods.
The Finance Facilitated provides human resource experience and expertise in the field of benefits to businesses in their
various forms: non-repayable grants or interest subsidies, soft loans, tax breaks and so on.
European Union, Regions, Provinces and Chambers of Commerce provide worthwhile opportunities for SME credit
facilities. Among these it is not always easy to find the one that best suits your specific needs. For this reason, Eurocons
specialists’ goal is to assist companies in identifying the most appropriate solutions to the type of investment program to
be implemented, monitoring deadlines and providing constant information. The service provided are: pre-feasibility study
of the operation, preparation of all documentation, submission of the application to the competent bodies, drafting of
the final statement of expenditure. The service is constantly updated on the evolution of legislation and the opening dates
of the calls for the submission of applications. In this way, the increasingly numerous innovations in the field are followed
in a timely manner. Thanks to this methodology, reliable and efficient, the success rate of applications submitted by
Eurocons exceed 95%. Since 1994, they have been traded in favor of small and medium-sized member companies nearly
€ 4.7 billion of loans.
Needs of Eurofidi and Eurocons clients:
 Want to expand their lending capacity;
 Seek concessions and contributions to finance their investments and want to develop their business on foreign
markets;
33




Want economic and financial analysis on their business;
Pursue quality policies;
Need expert advice on aspects of their business that impact on the income statement, on the growth and survival
of an enterprise;
Believe in alternative energy (solar, photovoltaic, etc.).
The free of charge information, the ability to research online and the ability to find the best suited calls for SMEs in which
the cost of the practice/benefit is definitely the highest.
The selection work of R & D Eurocons office is definitely an advantage for SMEs that can immediately identify the best
suited calls.
Economic resources
The total cost of the service provided by business support entity is € 200.000,00:
 4 Full-time equivalent (FTE*) dedicated;
 Internet: website, chat, software.
Staff
4 Full-time equivalent (FTE*) dedicated.
[* FTE = is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person in a way that makes workloads comparable across
various contexts. FTE is often used to measure a worker’s involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an
organization.]
Know-how
Bachelor’s degree in Law/Economics with major in subsidized financing and postgraduate.
Difficulties in interpretation of rules and procedures, application of the aid in specific cases. Various kind of actors
involved.
Being a reference point for SMEs to interpret legislation, simplification of processes and the streamlining of key
information, to access the call through a complete system starting from the request to the disbursement of the fund.
The free of charge service as a key to the wider dissemination of information on calls and the simplified technical detail
for SMEs in order to easily understand the possibilities provided through the call selected.
34
The primary need is the knowledge of existing calls, the need is the awareness of being on target with the calls and the
need to have a single point of contact throughout the process of accessing funds.
Currently the website has affected 110000 unique visitors from MAR-2012 for a total of 136000 visits (about 9k
visits/month).
High conversion (8 times more than the company’s corporate website) of visits in calls to the call center that demonstrates
a high interest in the subject.
www.trovagevolazioni.it
www.eurocons.biz
35
FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS AND SERVICES IN SMALLER TOWNS
AND RURAL AREAS
Presented by: BSC SME
Name of
Company
the
 JOBS Centres Network Project
Type
Company
of
 N/A
Address
City and Region
76 Targovska Str., et.2
 Polski Trambesh
Postal code
 5180
Country
 Bulgaria
 (+359) 61413942
Phone
(+359) 61416905
Fax
E-mail
Website
N/A
Jobs Opportunities through Business Support (JOBS) is a project that has been run by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) in Bulgaria since October 2000 in principal partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social
Policy (MLSP). It was designed to address the significant unemployment rates in Bulgaria of the late 1990’s and the
particularly high rates in disadvantaged locations and groupings.
By the end of the last reported year’s activities, 2007, some 30,100 long term jobs had been created at a cost of USD 26.6
million through the operations of 43 Business Centres, 10 Business Incubators and 17 Window Offices spread through
the less advantaged municipalities of Bulgaria.
It achieved this through an integrated package of non-financial and financial business development services. In addition,
over the life of the project 14 special initiatives were separately funded from 10 external donors, including a range of local
programmes fostering tourism, herb production, and economic inclusion for minority groups.
The three financial services components of the JOBS project were the Financial Leasing Scheme (FLS) implemented in
2001, the startup grant and support scheme called Project 100 implemented in 2004 and the Micro-Grants for Roma
scheme implemented in 2006. The first two services provided finance to entrepreneurial groups of people who, at that
time, were not seen by the commercial banks as good potential customers. The third one was a complementary grant to
the lease product provided by BCs operating in predominantly Roma communities. All three components came as a
logical continuation of UNDP Bulgaria’s efforts to tackle poverty and unemployment through economic development
programmes.
1. The Financial Leasing Scheme: FLS provided local businesses with leases for purchase of new or used business
equipment in three versions: for startups, ordinary businesses and agricultural businesses;
2. Project 100 provided grants of up to BGN 20000 for people who demonstrate viable ideas to start a business;
3. Micro-Grants for Roma was run in two Business Centres in urban neighborhoods with Roma population of
over 20000. The micro-grants bundle a FLS lease with a grant of up to BGN 2000 for initial start-up expenses.
As of December 31, 2007 until 2010, 38 business centres provide services under FLS. They continued to offer leases of
up to BGN 15000 for start-ups, up to BGN 30000 for existing MSMEs and up to BGN 35000 for agriculture equipment.
36


Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and UNDP through JOBS were the pioneers in providing much needed
assistance - business and social - to small, remote, deprived areas and populations. Over its eight years of work,
JOBS has held a leadership position in the delivery of assistance to micro and small enterprises and poorly
serviced communities in Bulgaria; in many cases it has been the only provider of any such services there.
Although small, Project 100 is an important experiment in using a highly conditional cash-transfer mechanism
to “kick-start” businesses. It is interesting because the use of grants or cash transfers have more or less been
phased-out of most countries.
The JOBS business development services created a brand name of high quality assistance for unemployed people in
Bulgaria. These services included financial, as well as non-financial services: Business incubators (BI), Information
technologies (IT), Trainings, Consultations, Informational services, Technical and office services.
Surveys shows that 59% of beneficiaries saw the leasing product as having a very positive impact on the stability of their
company, 53% saw it as very positive in increasing productivity and 50% saw as very positive in strengthening
competitiveness.
Economic resources
The BCs are well established local non-profit institutions, experienced in the local economic and social context, adaptable
to diverse types of funding, well positioned as competent partners to local authorities and NGOs in implementing local
development policies and initiatives. In short a unique commodity in any city town or village and a valuable partner to the
relevant civic authorities.
An averagely performing business centre can make BGN 28,500 per annum from interest on the leases. Current average
annual expenses of a well performing Business Centre are between BGN 20000-25000. The FLS takes on average 30%
of the financial consultant’s time and 10% of the Manager’s. The productivity of the average BC loan officer is low: on
average 8.13 leases were disbursed in 2007. This means that if in future BCs pay for using the lease portfolio, and for
renting their premises*, some larger BCs would run FLS at a loss; while some smaller BC’s may run at a profit (*on
average, BGN 20000 per year).
Staff
The manager of JOBS BC has a small number of staff: financial consultant, an agronomist (in BCs supporting organic
herbs production), a marketing expert (for business consultancy work and training) and other professionals employed on
projects.
Needed for financial services: appropriately qualified leasing/loan consultants to staff the BCs.
Know-how


The Business Centres (BC) have similar articles of association and are incorporated as non-profit organizations
(NGOs), with the legal status of associations that allow for membership of persons and organizations;
The BCs have been operating within a limited number of core activities and services, and practically all the
relevant parties to these are involved. The involvement of the municipality and the Labour Office Directorate
in particular has played a major role in legitimizing the BCs in their startup phase. A significant asset of the BC’s
is the municipal premises provided free of charge or at a low rent;
37


The BCs have been fortunate in the quality of their managers but it is considered that JOBS must continue the
on-going development of managers so that the BCs can meet new challenges;
What distinguishes the JOBS BC network from other service providers has been the personal touch, the
closeness to the client and the good knowledge and grip on local community, employment and economic issues.



Starting off as a strong development instruments, the financial components have been overtaken by the rapid
economic changes that took place after 2004. To address the new problems faced by small businesses the JOBS
financial instruments needed to be reengineered;
Withdrawal of funds requires separate requests to each BC with idle funds;
The JOBS Network at the current time is organized to deliver and carry out only limited number of BDS (limited
with regard to available in-house expert potential and business service capacity). Most of these services are
mainly oriented toward the provision of soft skills and measures (non-business) such as basic computer skills,
language training, and EU related information.
Microfinance institutions JOBS Ltd. was established as a banking group to Bulgarian Development Bank on 23.12.2010
started its activities by providing funds in the form of a lease in March 2011 by four schemes - leasing of industrial
equipment, leasing of vehicles and leasing of agricultural machinery and other equipment leasing. Currently, JOBS MFI
operates funds of European Investment Fund in a business network of more than 30 brokers (the former JOBS centres)
in the country.
The JOBS financial components have had significant impact on the local economy including the physical infrastructure
(purchasing productive assets) and the social environment (decrease of unemployment and improvement of living
standards). The increased business capacity of financial leasing service’s beneficiaries had flow on effects: family members
found jobs in the business, or spent more at local businesses.
The leasing scheme has had the effect at a national level of teaching the banks about the bankability of micro and small
enterprises. The BCs, though competitors to the banks, have actually “grown” clients for them.
All JOBS Business Centres have targeted unemployed and other various marginal groups in the delivery of non-financial
business services such as training, consultations, information sharing and business counselling.
Additionally, the BCs have extended business services to start-up companies and local entrepreneurs by providing what
was crucial at that time: business plan preparation, basic accounting services, IT support and limited marketing advice. In
many areas JOBS has been the only provider of such services. The financial services provided by BCs were in almost all
cases the only possibility for micro and small entrepreneurs to access financial resources.
By the end of the last reported year’s activities, 2007, some 30,100 long term jobs had been created at a cost of USD 26.6
million through the operations of 43 Business Centres, 10 Business Incubators and 17 Window Offices spread through
the less advantaged municipalities of Bulgaria. Till end 2007, there were 1371 leases to a value of BGN 15,744,792.
38
However, because of the discontinuation of state funding some centres ceased operations. There are still centres with
limited staff. These JOBS centres continue still, at a very low level, to perform other functions in support of
entrepreneurship and reduction of unemployment, such as consultations and pre-qualification training of the
unemployed.
Financial engineering instruments can be used as a tool for sustainable regional development and economic revival.
Development and management of transnational and regional non-banking financial engineering instruments managed
by business supporting structures could be regarded as flagship initiatives for the countries.
In relation to this, the development of specialized regional funding non-banking instruments for SME support, namely
a Specialized Revolving Fund for development of environment-friendly animal breeding and horticulture, is vital for the
recovery from the economic crisis, especially in the rural areas of partner SEE countries.
Job Opportunities Through Business Support (JOBS), Independent Evaluation 2008 Report, Final Version 3: 2nd
December 2008: http://www.mfi.bg/bg/about.html
39
AGEVOLAZIONI ALLE IMPRESE (SMES FACILITATION.IT)
Presented by: MOLISE REGION
Name of
Company
the
 Telematica Italia Srl
Type
Company
of
 Ltd.
Address
City and Region
Via Bramante, 43
 Terni/Umbria
Postal code
 05100
Country
 Italy
 (+39) 0744428739
Phone
(+39) 0744392213
Fax
E-mail

Website
www.agevolazioni.telematicaitalia.it
The services provided by Telematica Italia Srl are targeted to businesses and professionals, and are available throughout
the national territory and beyond.
Telematica Italia Srl since 1999 manufactures and distributes databases and professional information services targeting
Italian enterprises and foreign firms with trade in Italy.
It integrates the knowledge acquired in the fields of Financial Incentives, call for tenders, Commercial Information and
about Regulations of the field, making a unique offer of online services, software and databases, which are essential for
all businesses, large and small, operating in the territory.
The organization informs more than ten thousand companies and professional firms on how to train their know-how, to
update them on current issues and legislation, to protect them from commercial risks for asset investigation in order to
meet new prospective partners and suppliers, to broaden the target audience of customers to participate and get public
procurement contracts and to get assistance on legal and tax issues.
The business support service offers to its customers the most advanced software and Web services to make the Internet
a reference point for marketing and relations of every business.
The services of the portal/magazine www.agevolazioni.telematicaitalia.it are available partly in free mode and partly by
subscription.
With the service Project & Money customers and users of Telematica Italia are “accompanied” in the preparation of
investment programs and procedures, in the management of access to all public incentives aimed at businesses, from EU
funds, national, regional, provincial or municipal.
The activation of the advice offered by P & M service covers all the technical, bureaucratic and procedural practice of
funding.
The Service Companies Advantages are divided into two main areas:
1. Information (information portal);
2. Consulting.
A) INFORMATION
40
The news service, totally taken care of by the editorial staff, provides for the implementation and updating of various
areas of outreach:
a) Incentives and concessions to companies
Daily basis through a continuous monitoring of official sources are treated and disseminated through articles
statements and practices synoptic cards, various notices, alerts and regulations of primary interest for the world
of business and professions;
b) RSS - Press for Specialized Companies and Professionals (New)
Every day the preparation, monitoring over 40 national newspapers and regional public by mid-morning a large
number of articles economic/financial services of most interest to customers of Telematica Italia;
c) Agenda Fairs Italy
Is published monthly and made available to users of Telematica Italia the list of the most significant exhibitions
on the bill at the national level;
d) Focus SMEs
In this section are published, updated and made available a series of practical guides of the largest subsidized
instruments/financial (employment incentives, energy Bonus, Bonus renovations, Stability Law (formerly the
Budget Law), Decree Milleproroghe, Tremonti Ter and Quater, Startup business, etc.) active at the national level;
e) Internationalization (New)
Depth section of opportunities for foreign customers;
As part of this area at the time, are online the following sections:
 Exhibition Calendar, incentives for participation in trade fairs abroad, trade missions abroad, foreign
trade;
f) Newsletter
Enter daily to customers/users of the newsletter pertaining to the day’s news published on the website
www.agevolazioni.telematicaitalia.it ;
B) CONSULTING
The service offers two different levels of expertise:
a) Request opinion and feasibility study
 Generic Request for Opinion
Screening carried out by the editorial board of the service Facilities for Telematica Italia from the customer’s
requirements are not particularly complex, that do not require in-depth studies and specific European regulations,
national and regional;
The screening service for customers is, in this case, provided free of charge;
 Request for depth opinion
Screening carried out complex requests, or analysis and feasibility study of practices that require in-depth studies
and specific applicable regional, national and/or European;
b) Activation of practice
If screening has been successful, clients will be offered the opportunity to take advantage of the Counselling
Service of Telematica Italia for submission of the grant application and all subsequent related activities;
First of all, will be presented to the customer a cost estimate, within which it defined the level of complexity of
the case;
 Simple Practices (defined by quote)
The cost of these types of practices to subscribers of Telematica Italia (e.g. the Chamber of Commerce financing)
amounted to € 120. For non-subscribers the cost of the service amounted to € 240;
41
 Practices Complex (defined by quote)
The customer will receive from Telematica Italia a cost estimate for the type of incentive required, the amount
will be calculated as a percentage of the total amount of the project. The percentages required to subscribers will
also in this case lower than those of Non-subscription customers.
The service was founded with the intent to simplify and make accessible the tools and opportunities that facilitated
financing offers for businesses, professionals and ordinary citizens.
In such an environment, the business idea of Telematica Italia was to restore order to the framework and re-educate the
audience of users about facilitating measures for the proper use of the available tools.
The added value that the service offers is the fact that the potential user - at very low cost - may at any time verify the
feasibility and economic viability of its projects (recruitment, investment, training, cash in its own right, etc.) addressing by phone, e-mail, etc. - a trusted advisor, ready to guide him and direct him in his choice.
Staff
The Service Facilities can count on the daily work done by internal staff and a dense network of external consultants
working on the whole national territory.
The internal staff (10 employees) - operating in Terni - deals with both the analysis and dissemination of information.
The network of consultants (affiliated with specific agreements) - operating throughout the national territory - follows in
a direct manner (with a door to door) customers in the accessions in competitions/incentives that cannot be managed
remotely.
The Service Facilities cater almost exclusively to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Small businesses are a very articulate and even if they are similar in size, may have very different organizational structures
and management.
In this particular economic environment, almost all traders are dealing with heavy repercussions of the economic crisis,
which resulted in a drastic reduction in their sales, their revenue.
The Italian entrepreneurship remains competitive if it is the result of a greater capacity for innovation and, above all,
greater production efficiency (internal and supply chain). This efficiency can be achieved through the use of solutions in
the field of Information Technology necessary to strengthen the strategic relationship between the different companies.
In recent years some “tax-government” innovations (digital signature, PEC, etc.) in fact for some business owners have
always shown more problems than benefits.
From here, company have embraced the thesis of the so-called “innovation in small steps”.
Innovation in small steps, this new methodology, certainly not created by Telematica Italia, must be understood as the
make accessible for everyone, in order to simplify the application language.
42
Company’s services are computerized and therefore customers/users are and have been used to experiment with ways
and means, such as: newsletters, e-mail, form management, reserved, login, PW, etc. In a process of steady growth that
has brought the small farmer, the wholesaler, the freelancer to write, read and interrogate the daily newsrooms.
This process now has about 10000 customers, over 6000 of these are the daily users of the Service Reductions.
First of all, they tried to stop the lack in the system information on the instruments made accessible by easy finance. In
the era of network, internet and globalization runs an enormous amount of information, which often cannot be ordered,
verified and made accessible from their natural recipients. From this it is intended to make it clear and tidy, orderly and
clearly enjoyed all what can be called “soft loans” (calls, legislative, bonuses, tax credits, local measures, etc.).
Currently customers/users of the website are not only promptly updated, but may at any time take steps to meet the
economic needs them.
Hundreds of practices of funding are managed and presented each year; meeting the business needs as tangible and
intangible investments, hiring new staff, participation in fairs and internationalization, liquidity and recapitalization
business, start-up, etc. Customers/users are able to satisfy their need of information, even the economic needs arising
from the normal course of their business activities.
43
ACCESS TO FINANCE IN AGRO BUSINESS
Enhanced Access to Finance for participants in the Fresh Fruits & Vegetables and
Processed Vegetables Value Chains
Presented by: FFRM
Name of
Company
the
 Macedonia Innovation Center
Type
Company
of
 Non-profit, non-governmental, business support organization
Address
City and Region
Majka Tereza #13a
 Skopje
Postal code
 1000
Country
 Former Yugoslav
Macedonia

Phone
(+389) 23245122
Fax
E-mail

Website
Republic
of
www.i2b.org.mk
The Financial Platform was developed in the frames of increased competitiveness of Macedonian companies, mostly
donor supported, leveraging between 250-440 USD for every USD spent.
It engages financial facilitators (consultants) to work together with the SMEs in identifying the financial needs, preparing
the business and investment plans, selecting the most suitable financial instruments, hence providing successful access to
finance for the companies.
The practice exists since 2009, and since 2011-present has been actively engaged in the agricultural sector.
The SMEs that have a need of additional financing, being a new project, working capital, need for a capital investment
and/or recapitalization; address the Financial Platform, managed by an AtF Manager. The Manager runs a pipeline of
projects (companies/farmers that have financial needs) on one hand, and a pool of highly trained Financial Facilitators
(10-20) people skilled in finance, business planning, strategic planning and related skills and expertise, on the other.
The consultants receive an assignment to help a SME in the process of accessing finance, and are eligible for a success
fee. This practice mitigates the risk, since the company, the consultant and the NGO are sharing it.
The process lasts for at least 1 month, during which the FF collaborates with the company’s representative, works
alongside, performs financial engineering, applies for the financial resources, and negotiates on behalf of the client. Upon
a contract concluded between the FI and the company/farmer, the FF receives his/her payment from both the client
and the financial platform.
The SME that has received finance is obliged to elaborate on the money required, to describe the investment, to present
the number of new/seasonal job positions it will create, and to project the amount of export it will entail.
The access to finance manager has an obligation to conduct follow-up activities with the company, making sure that “all
said is done”, usually by random field visits and close cooperation with the company.
Very often, this cooperation allowed additional services requested by the NGO as a BSO.
44
This approach diminishes the most painful points in the knowledge-based business.
The companies feel secure because they are not dealing with an individual they are not sure they can trust, but an
organization, a legal person, with a proven record of accomplishment.
On the other hand, the consultants have a regular inflow of previously checked clients and assured payment of their
services. This also provides for a portfolio of projects, thus decreases their risk of down payment.
The BSO gets to serve its community and develop itself and its country’s competitiveness.
The program does not benefit from a utilization of software yet. However, it leaves room for a serious upgrade and
further specialization of services. The FF advice not only on the disposable financial products on the market, but also on
the alternative financial sources, such as risk and equity financing.
Since 2011-present, the Financial platform has helped:
 Over 60 companies and farmers in designing their business and investment plans;
 45, or 75% have successfully accessed over USD 8,7 million, thus invested over USD 16,5 million in the
agricultural sector;
 This activity has created over 100 new job positions and has increased the export of the Macedonian agricultural
companies by USD 9,6 million;
 Organized 9 educational and matchmaking events between FIs, BSOs and Insurance companies;
 Over 300 company reps and farmers attended this events and disseminated information;
 Developed a 2000 pieces brochure titled “Innovative Financial products for agricultural financing” consisted of
7 FIs and over 15 available financial products on the Macedonian market;
 Disseminated a list of 10 most successful FFs, who have assisted over 160 companies to successfully accessed
finance and invested over USD 120 million.
Economic resources
Approximately USD 30.000,00 provided by donor, are needed per year, in order to cost-share the expenses of the
companies that need assistance in access to finance process. The same however, can be covered solely by the private sector
as well, in terms of percentage of the granted amounted of money as a success fee for the FF and the BSO. These
percentages range between 3-5% from the accessed finance, depending on the scope of work.
Staff
A staff of two, one Access to finance manager and one Access to finance assistant are enough to conduct this service
professionally. The manager has to have close and solid cooperation with the financial institutions, training organizations
and be in a position to follow trends and acquire resources.
Know-how
A continues training is needed in financial management and corporate finance for the FFs. In addition, solid information
flow is of essence for this work. Getting familiar with the trends on the financial market is more than welcomed. The
staff need to have basic knowledge of financial management and strong project management skills.
45
OBSTACLES
Financial problems occur, when there is no money for cost sharing the success-fee of consultants, and the whole amount
is charged to the companies. Otherwise, the companies/farmers sign a binding contract by which they pay in advance the
calculated percentage of the perused amount of finance, which is retained if success and reimbursed by 80% if the
endeavor does not result with success.
Enlarging the services offer, in order to diversify the risk of charging the companies, also decreased the cost-share, so the
companies realize that they have to start paying for this service themselves, as any other service on the market.
One identified need is donor financial support to this service, so that it manages to create even stronger impact on
strengthening the market position thus competitiveness of Macedonian companies, where the access to finance is a real
obstacle in growth, especially in the agricultural sector.
At present, this is the only service of this kind offered on the Macedonian market. It has created remarkable results on
the market and in the agricultural sector.
It significantly reduces the mistrust and miscommunication between the client and the advisor, thus creating win-win-win
situation.
The Financial Platform can easily be transferred to any country, especially the developing/transition countries, where the
interest rates of banks are still high (above 15%). It has been applied to some neighboring countries, such as Serbia, but
also in Georgia in 2012.
A brochure has been developed on innovative financial instruments on the Macedonian market, it is on Macedonian
language, as it has been disseminated to Macedonian companies and farmers: http://www.agbiz.com.mk/doc-pdf
In addition they developed a study on the linkages between the agricultural insurance and access to finance for
farmers, with main focus on the recommendations for improvement of management of the agricultural insurance
scheme: http://www.i2b.org.mk/images/stories/PIRN%20Ag%20%20Insurance%20final%20report_f.pdf
The Macedonian Business Angel Network, i2BAN: www.i2b.org.mk
46
Section
3
Effective approaches for technology and
innovation transfer to SMEs
WORKSHOP 3
Greece, 2-4 September 2013
Name
Who generated
Software Suite for the management of horticultural crops
Ce.Spe.Vi.
(Experimental
Center for the Nursery)
Knowledge2Innovation Toolkit
Knowledge 2 Innovation FP7
project
ETAT / Hellenic Food
Authority
Integrated monitoring and control of foodborne viruses in a
vegetable production enterprise
www.iwaterfood.gr/en
www.fertirrigazione.it
PROF.i
Use of blended type training courses (online and on the field)
for young farmers (SMEs) in horticultural and the animal
breeding sector
University of Agribusiness and
Rural development
Agrohomeopathy – novel old approach in horticulture and
animal breeding
PH Agrohomeopaty for plants
and pests
Supporting technology and innovation transfer on national
and international level
Enterprise Europe Network
Consortium - Bulgaria
47
SOFTWARE SUITE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF
HORTICULTURAL CROPS
Name of
Company
the
 Ce.Spe.Vi. (Experimental Center for the Nursery)
Type
Company
of
 Company
Address
Via Ciliegiole
 Pistoia (PT)/Tuscany
City and Region
Postal code
 51100
Country
 Italy

Phone
(+39) 0573570063
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.cespevi.it
In the Experimental Centre for the Nursery and in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural Sciences, Food
and Agro-environmental Of University of Pisa (Prof. Alberto Pardossi) were developed and distributed software
packages for the management of floricultural crops (horticulture). Every software was funded through a specific project.
All software are distributed free of charge.
Description of the technology/innovation transfer
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Source (author): Dep. DiSAAA University of Pisa;
Technology: software;
Beneficiary: everyone;
Consequences: optimization of crops;
Results:
free
download,
from
specific
webpage
on
official
website
(http://www.cespevi.it/softunipi/softunipi.htm );
6. Mechanisms/methods of transfer: in the Experimental Centre were developed and distributed software
packages for the management of horticultural and floricultural crops;
7. Details regarding the process: every software was funded through a specific project and are distributed free of
charge (direct link with no registration required);
8. SMSs accessibility: user’s instructions are provided step-by-step in specific dialog boxes; software packages
can be simple Excel worksheet or computer programs.
Development of the software packages for free users, direct link with no registration required.
Multi-language software: each partner develops software in his mother language and other EU languages according with
other partners.
48
DESCRIPTION OF THE NECESSARY RESOURCES TO ASSURE THE TEHNOLOGY AND
INNOVATION TRANSFER
Economic resources
Each software were financed by some projects:
EU Euphoros
AZORT- La concimazione azotata degli ortaggi
FLOW-AID- Farm Level Optimal Water management: Assistant for Irrigation under Deficit
IRRIFLORVIVA
Staff
 1 Skilled worker;
 1 Administrative and Secretarial;
 1 Technical and managerial.
They use college interns and third-party companies or account for jobs.
Know-how
University level know-how impressed in calculator tools free of charge.
The main problem is definitely the economic loans that are too few and difficult to find.
To overcome this problem they are forced to minimize the personal and use outside firms to seasonal activities.
Success factors that facilitate the technology and innovation transfer
1. The close involvement of the nursery companies (large and small) in all the activities of Ce.Spe.Vi., which is
their home town where they meet and receive the visits of operators and institutions at home and abroad;
2. By a simple webpage with several links shared between technicians and farmers they can optimize and facilitate
transfer.
A specific need is to find more sources of funding and expand the operations of the company facility.
They have many activities to be developed that would also be of great importance and help for the industry.
Unfortunately, companies do not currently have the habit of directly funding these activities and expect that public
institutions do it for them.
Ce.Spe.Vi is for SMEs and farmers one reference point that directs local SMEs in solving their problems.
49
Easily, everyone can also modified calculator tools (e.g. excel calculator sheet) if necessary.
Each project has several reports and work packages’ results.
http://www.cespevi.it/softunipi/softunipi.htm
Software Name
Type
Description
SOL-NUTRI 1.3
Excel worksheet
It allows to calculate the nutrient solutions
to be used for the soil-less cultivation and
in pots.
Developed in the project EU Euphoros
(N EU-FP7-KBBE-2007-211457).
SOL-NUTRI 1.0
Freeware software for
Windows (.exe)
It allows to calculate the nutrient solutions
to be used for cultivation and soilless
potted.
Developed in the project AZORT-La
concimazione azotata degli ortaggi
FERTILIZER
CALCULATOR 1.2
Excel worksheet
It helps farmers and technicians in the
calculation of the total amount of use and
efficiency (NUE) of nutrients used in
protected crops.
(N EU-FP7-KBBE-2007- 211457).
SIMULHYDRO 2.3
Excel worksheet
(English only)
It is aimed at advanced fertirrigation users
only. It is able to calculate the efficiency in
the use of water and nutrients using
different strategies and different options
fertigation exhaust recirculating solutions
in soilless closed-loop or open.
(N EU-FP7-KBBE-2007- 211457).
GREEN-FERT 1.2
Excel worksheet
GREENHOUSE SOIL
FERTILIZATION MANAGER
(GREEN-FERT)
50
Link
It assists farmers and technicians in the
calculation of both the fertilization of
fund in the composition of fertigation to
be used during the cultivation of
horticultural main species grown in soil in
a greenhouse.
Developed in the project AZORT-La
concimazione azotata degli ortaggi and
EU Euphoros (N EU-FP7-KBBE-2007211457).
CSRD v.1.2
Database (English
only)
Crop Stress Response Database (CSRD)
It contains information on the
quantitative response of about 20 species
of agricultural interest to water stress
(drought) and salt.
Developed in the project FLOW-AIDFarm Level Optimal Water management:
Assistant for Irrigation under Deficit (N
EU-FP6-N 036958)
HYDROTOOLS DSS
C # Microsoft. Net
Framework 4.0
Management of soilless crops in
greenhouses.
Developed in collaboration with IBIMETCNR of in the project EU Euphoros (N
EU-FP7-KBBE-2007- 211457).
CALCOLATORE VI v.
1.0
Excel worksheet
(work in progress)
It helps farmers and technicians in the
calculation of the optimum amount of water
volume to be administered to the
horticultural crops grown in the ground or
in pots.
Developed in the project MIPAF 2009-2012,
“IRRIFLORVIVA- Progettazione e
realizzazione di centraline e software
innovativi per il pilotaggio dell’irrigazione
capaci di aumentare l’efficienza
dell’irrigazione nel florovivaismo” (D.M.
11050/7643/09).
51
25.500
Kb
KNOWLEDGE2INNOVATION TOOLKIT
Name of
Company
the
 Knowledge 2 Innovation FP7 project - ETAT / Hellenic Food Authority
Type
Company
of
 Public Equivalent Body
Address
City and Region
124 Kifissias & Iatridou
2 Abelokipoi
 Athens
Postal code
 11526
Country
 Greece
 (+30) 2106971552
Phone
(+30) 2106971500
Fax
E-mail

Website
www.efet.gr
The K2I toolkit is intended to help researchers with the presentation of their knowledge and producing tailored
knowledge profiles. The aim is to help researchers better understand what the industry is interested in and to use language
the industry is familiar with, and hence, improving the chances of successful academia-industry collaboration and
knowledge transfer.
The Exchange Assessment Tool helps to give a more nuanced view of results achieved through Knowledge Transfer
(KT) activities, while at the same time provide insight into and facilitate learning and understanding of the KT process
for the parties involved (the public research organization, as the knowledge provider, and the company, as the
recipient/user of the knowledge).
1. Source: http://www.knowledge2innovation.eu ;
2. Technology/innovation: On – line (also in Excel form) Communication tool, Knowledge‐Potential Evaluation
Tool and Knowledge Transfer Follow Up Tool;
3. Type of beneficiaries and number: SMEs, the tool has been used in more than 500 SMEs till now;
4. Consequences: improving the chances of successful academia-industry collaboration and knowledge transfer;
5. Results: A more efficient technology transfer;
6. Mechanisms/Methods of transfer: Online web based and excel base toolkit composed by 3 parts: a) Profile
Builder, b) Knowledge‐Potential Evaluation Tool and c) Exchange Assessment tool;
7. More details regarding the transfer process: 4 sections: a) Origin and general characteristics of proposed
knowledge transfer prospects of idea in general, b) Knowledge to be transferred and the enterprise, capacity
of the enterprise to use specific piece of knowledge, c) Overview of the knowledge transfer and its effects
qualities of knowledge, financial pre‐evaluation, external operating environment, organizational criteria, d)
Financial aspects, e) Dashboard for each evaluation, 10 criteria, Allows for comparison of proposals;
8. Other information: The tool is simple to use and it can used by Companies/researchers themselves, directly
involved in project intermediaries/ consultants/ KT professionals, supporting projects;
9. SMEs accessibility to the service: So far the tool can be used free of charge.
52
Easy to use and easy to adopt tool. No special or previous knowledge is required. The tool has a translation character and
it can be used in any type of SME.
Facilitate and increase effectiveness of academia‐industry cooperation in matters of knowledge transfer and innovation
development.
INNOVATION TRANSFER
Economic resources
The tool is currently free of charge.
Staff
2 researchers, 1 technician.
Know-how
The partners of the K2I project have prepared relative training material.
In the training material the use of toolkit is detailed explained and analyzed. Moreover there is training material for other
critical aspects in knowledge transfer process. The material covers the importance of the “proof-of-concept” stage, the
evaluation of the potential of knowledge, the application of quality management systems in research organizations and
key background knowledge on the protection of various forms of intellectual property.
No serious problems were encounter either during the development of the toolkit or in its implementation by the SMEs.
A few technical problems dealing with the interface of the toolkit were solved easily. Also a more detailed training
handbook was provided so the users and SMEs could better understand the toolkit.
SMEs need training, information on their mother tongue. Trust has to be established between the 2 parts. Assistance is
necessary for SMEs to apply research results. Parallel use of more than one method is also advisable.
IDENTIFIED NEEDS: The K2I tool was developed as an answer to the “language” barrier between industry and
academia. Furthermore, the European agro‐food sector was assessed to be slow in the uptake of new innovations and
knowledge transfer. The financial resources to get access to the research results was another inhibitive factor for the SMEs
to approach research centres.
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT: K2I survey ‐ 80% of respondents agree that industry and academics don’t speak the
same language.
53
So far the toolkit has been used by more than 500 SMEs in the agrifood sector. The survey for the evaluation of the
results of the method is still in progress. The result measurement focused on statistical data, such as:
 Number of research staff;
 Number of professors;
 Number of KT staff;
 Research budgets;
 Invention disclosures;
 Patents filed;
 License agreements concluded;
 Start‐ups initiated;
 Jobs created.
The toolkit is still free of charge and it can be used by any interested part. It is user friendly, independent of the nature
of the SME (horticulture or animal breeding) and of course it can be used by any country and region.
Various documentations and info
http://www.knowledge2innovation.eu .
material
can
be
found
in
54
the
website
of
the
project
INTEGRATED MONITORING AND CONTROL OF FOODBORNE
VIRUSES IN A VEGETABLE PRODUCTION ENTERPRISE
Presented by: ERFC
Name of
Company
the
 MOLECULAR CENTER OF FOOD AND WATER QUALITY (IWaterFood)
Type
Company
of
 Public
Address
City and Region
Environmental Microbiology Postal code
Unit, Laboratory of Hygiene,
Dept. of Medicine, University
of Patras, University Campus,
Rion, Patras
 Achaia
 GR26500
Country
 Greece
 (+30) 2610969875
Phone
(+30) 2610969875
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.iwaterfood.gr
The general description of this practice was a fit for purpose virological risk assessment by integrated virological
monitoring of a salad vegetables enterprise in Greece, from production to the point of sale. Then, the aim was to focus
on the construction and the use of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps in modelling a fit-for-purpose Decision Support System which
diagnoses the possibility of the cross-contamination of lettuce in the same enterprise. The construction of this good
practice is an important and illustrative way of solving Food Science problems. The practice exists from 2012 and can be
employed by vegetable production enterprises.
1. Source: this innovation was a product of collaboration between the Environmental Microbiology Unit of the
Department of Medicine and the Laboratory for Automation and Robotics of the Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering, of the University of Patras;
2. Technology/innovation: the concept was the integrated monitoring and control of contamination of a vegetable
food supply chain by pathogenic viruses. Advanced methods for virus detection were used throughout the food
supply chain; data were gathered on virus contamination of food and environmental sources suitable for
quantitative viral risk assessment. Moreover, the supply chain was monitored for the presence of indicator
viruses commonly found in faecal contamination events. Finally, modelling tools were developed to define the
quantitative viral risk, and to assess foodborne viral risks for determining high-risk situations and efficacy of
interventions. Modular process risk models were developed to build up specific HACCP recommendations.
Finally, a software tool using theories of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps, for the diagnosis of problems arising in lettuce
production chain, was constructed. A guidance sheet was finally produced on the prevention of viral
contamination of green salad vegetables;
3. Type of beneficiaries and number: the beneficiary was a SME located in Western Greece (Pantelis Petropoulos
S.A.). The enterprise focuses on the production of salad vegetables;
4. Consequences: recent developments in risk management can be evaluated for their use in reducing foodborne
viral infections. Survival of viruses in foods can be modelled, and disinfection procedures used in the food
55
industry can be evaluated, to elucidate the critical points where virus contamination may be controlled. The
findings are disseminated by producing handbooks and guidelines on appropriate control practices. Therefore a
framework was produced for monitoring, risk modelling, and procedures for control of foodborne virus
contamination, which can be applicable to any virus, whether existing, emerging or re-emerging, that poses the
danger of being transmitted by food;
5. Results - Mechanisms/Methods of transfer - More details regarding the transfer process: a total of 221 samples
were collected from the vertical production company of the project, which produces lettuces for the Greek
market and exports to EU countries. Samples represented production, processing and point of sale phases. They
were comprised of irrigation water, cattle manure, harvester’s hands, toilets, and toilet door handles (production
phase), rinsing water (processing phase) and lettuce heads (point of sale phase). Lettuces were then analyzed for
viral parameters. Human Adenoviruses (hAdVs) were used as indicators of human faecal contamination during
the fit-for-purpose virological analysis study, to be able to estimate the infection risk for humans through
consumption of the leafy vegetables by using quantitative viral risk assessment (QVRA). Moreover, a guidance
sheet was produced for the prevention of contamination of leafy greens by viruses. Finally, a software tool was
constructed which extracts the knowledge from the experts and exploits their experience of the process. Each
expert based on his/her experience knows the main factors that contribute to the decision. Experts describe the
existing relationship firstly as “negative” or “positive” and secondly, as a degree of influence using a linguistic
variable, such as “low”, “medium”, “high”, etc. Its term set T (influence) is suggested to be comprised of nine
variables for the case of Lettuce Company. Using nine linguistic variables, an expert can describe the influence
of one concept on another in detail and can discern it between different degrees. The use of software tools like
Food Science Decision Support Systems (DSS) using theories of FCMs, can be explored and problems that can
be arise during the food production chain can be further studied in order to indicate the importance of some
critical control points during the food production. The enterprise filled specific questionnaires developed by risk
assessment experts;
6. Other information: this innovation transfer was part of the European FP7 project VITAL (Integrated
Monitoring and Control of Food borne Viruses in European Food Supply Chains) (www.eurovital.org) aimed
to gather data on virus contamination, to provide a basis for subsequent quantitative viral risk assessment and
recommendation of control measures. The enterprise was one of few model SMEs for the study of vegetables
in VITAL together with companies from Poland and Serbia.
It was the first time in Greece that an integrated virological analysis was performed for a vegetable production chain. It is
known that vegetables which are ready-to-eat foods are prone to viral contamination which may lead to foodborne
outbreaks. The produced guidance sheets are a valuable tool for vegetable production enterprises.
Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) are a combination of methods of fuzzy logic and neural networks. It is a flexible
computational method, which is able to consider situations in which human reasoning process includes fuzzy and
uncertain descriptions. FCMs are fuzzy-graph structures for representing causal reasoning. Their fuzziness allows hazy
degrees of causality between causal objects (concepts). The effect and the interrelationships between the nodes should
be calculated, in order to create a FCM. Each node is a concept, a main feature of the system. Each interrelationship
between the nodes represents a cause-effect relationship that exists between concepts and determines the manner that
one concept influences on the value of the interconnected concepts.
56
INNOVATION TRANSFER
Economic resources
The enterprise provided access to the facilities for sampling campaigns during a 12 months period. Apart from
environmental samples (e.g. irrigation and rinsing water), lettuce heads have been collected and analyzed. The cost of
these samples was negligible. The costs of the virological and general microbiological analyses were covered by the FP7
European Project VITAL. Considering the negligible cost of the provided food samples in relation to the project
outcomes, it results that there was a significant benefit for the enterprise. Moreover, the development of the FCM was a
product of scientific collaboration between two university Departments, based on data collected during VITAL project.
Staff
Two members of the enterprise, the general manager and the quality assurance manager were implemented in the project.
Five scientists collaborated on behalf of the two laboratories of the University of Patras. The VITAL Consortium
composed of scientists from thirteen European Institutes.
Know-how
The personnel of the Environmental Microbiology Unit included a post-doctoral researcher, a PhD student post graduate
students of Biology, and Agronomy and an Assistant Professor of Hygiene. Two scientists (food safety experts) who
participated in food safety fact finding missions were PhD researchers in well recognized European Food safety Institutes.
Two PhD students of automation and modelling and a Professor of Automation and robotics participated in the
development of the computational model.
The virological risk factors are underestimated by food producers. Many measures which are effective for bacterial and
fungal parameters are not effective for viral parameters. There is a gap of knowledge on fast and reliable Food Science
Decision Support Systems. It is suggested that all companies involved in the lettuce/leafy greens farm to table supply
chain consider the recommendations contained within HACCP guidelines to ensure the safe production and handling of
lettuce/leafy greens products from field to fork. However, the use of software tools like Food Science Decision Support
Systems (DSS) using theories of FCMs, which have not been widely used in Food Science, can be explored and problems
that can be arise during the food production chain can be further studied in order to indicate the importance of some
critical control points during the food production.
Members of the enterprise were introduced to virological risk issues, during presentations, field and facilities inspections,
and fact finding visits by external experts. The prevalence of viral particles was found and potential critical control points
identified for viral contamination. Prevention measures were suggested.
DSS was developed and which involved concepts that were selected to be tested during the lettuce production procedure
and were extracted from questionnaires that were filled from experts. The methodology described extracts the knowledge
from experts and exploits their experience of the process. Each expert based on his/her experience knows the main
factors that contribute to the decision. Experts describe the existing relationship firstly as “negative” or “positive” and
secondly, as a degree of influence using a linguistic variable, such as “low”, “medium”, “high”, etc. Its term set T (influence)
is suggested to be comprised of different variables. Using linguistic variables, an expert can describe the influence of one
concept on another in detail and can discern it between different degrees. The variables used were: T (influence) =
{negatively very strong, negatively strong, negatively medium, negatively weak, zero, positively weak, positively medium,
57
positively strong, positively very strong}. With this method the purpose is to diagnose and predict the effect of different
factors during the lettuce production chain in their contribution to a final safe fresh lettuce.
The enterprise collaborated well with the project scientists, during the whole duration of the project, by providing
information and samples when needed and by discussing the real everyday problems concerning food safety issues. DSS
are especially valuable in situations in which the amount of “scientific data” is prohibitive for the “human decision maker”
to precede in solving difficult problems. Advanced DSS can aid human cognitive deficiencies by integrating various
methodologies and tools utilizing a number of different information sources in order to reach “acceptable decisions”.
The enterprise worked under specific contract specifications. Good Agricultural Practice (Global GAP) was practiced.
Internal and external auditing was in place. A formal quality system, i.e. ISO 22000, was under development throughout
the food supply chain. Principal elements of current food safety management initiatives are good practice examples (i.e.
GAP, GHP, GMP), Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), Modular Process Risk Models (MPRM) and
Microbiological Risk Assessment (MRA). To date, however, with respect to microbiological hazards, these concepts were
directed at bacterial and fungal pathogens only since these organisms lead to obvious food decay. Analyzing the impact
of virus contamination of food is only based on gathering epidemiological information, which occurs only in response
or as a reaction to disease outbreaks. Industry does not necessarily need to conduct risk assessments, because it is a task
for public health agencies; industry is today involved in assessment of risks and only actively needs to ensure it has proper
food safety management systems in place.
A Guidance Sheet was produced for the prevention of contamination of leafy greens by viruses. Moreover, the Decision
Support System (DSS) which was constructed is defined as any interactive computer – based support system for making
decisions in any complex system, when individuals or a team of people are trying to solve unstructured problems on an
uncertain environment. DSS are especially valuable in situations in which the amount of “scientific data” is prohibitive
for the “human decision maker” to precede in solving difficult problems. Advanced DSS can aid human cognitive
deficiencies by integrating various methodologies and tools utilizing a number of different information sources in order
to reach “acceptable decisions”. The benefits in using DSS are that they increase efficiency, productivity, competitiveness,
and offer cost effectiveness and high reliability. This could give to a food science business a comparative advantage over
other competitors. The project outcomes contributed to the production of safer products, affecting the competitiveness
of the company. The enterprise participates to networks and applied to different research projects on vegetable
production and safety issues after its participation in VITAL project.
Results of this project may be applied by any vegetable production enterprise. The Guidance Sheet is freely accessible to
the Public in VITAL’s webpage (eurovital.org) in different languages. After a short training the developed FCM may be
applied by food quality managers.
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WWW.FERTIRRIGAZIONE.IT
Name of
Company
the
 PROF.i
Type
Company
of
 Ltd.
Address
Via di Mezzano, 13/B
 Greve in Chianti (FI)
City and Region
Postal code
 50027
Country
 Italy

Phone
(+39) 3487235841
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.fertirrigazione.it
The Italian portal of Fertigation and Crop Specialist publishes and disseminates scientific and technical information
and/or news reporting in the agricultural world since the beginning of 2005.
1. Source: term found in the web, directly from scientific research or by their own hand;
2. Technology: use of search engines, contacts with scientific institutions, universities and much more;
3. Beneficiary: recipients of the fortnightly Newsletter: over 36000 professionals involved in the field of interest
(chosen from a selected database of over 50000 entities);
4. Consequences: update their knowledge through the reading of selections from good practice;
5. Results: over 27 MILLION of access to the portal in 2012 thanks to the fortnightly Newsletter;
6. Details regarding the process: drafting and sending a fortnightly Newsletter (20/22 issues per year) - Search
Engines Web.
Specialized hardware and software.
Easy and user friendly consultation.
INNOVATION TRANSFER
Economic resources
Various kind of sponsorship.
Staff
Internal staff (Management) + direct use of external staff collaborations.
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Know-how
Degree in Agricultural Science, Foreign Languages, Law, Design and Communication.
Obstacles exist in the web control, lack of sponsorship funds, and lack of funds necessary for the activities of
communication field.
Self-financing and high level of communication technologies.
Industry knowledge, partnerships qualified, intellectual honesty and professionalism.
Knowledge needs of the operators, facilitated by the selection of the best thematic publications.
The number of online access is the proof of the positive results achieved.
Easily on the web.
60
USE OF BLENDED TYPE TRAINING COURSES (ONLINE AND ON
THE FIELD) FOR YOUNG FARMERS (SMES) IN HORTICULTURAL
AND THE ANIMAL BREEDING SECTOR
Presented by: BEF
Name of
Company
the
 University of Agribusiness and Rural development
Type
Company
of
 Private company
Address
City and Region
78, Dunav Blvd
 Plovdiv
Postal code
 4003
Country
 Bulgaria
 (+359) 32960406
Phone
(+359) 32960406
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.uard.bg
Blended learning hit the forefront of training and development a few years ago, especially with the advent of online
learning interventions. Blended learning combines online with face-to-face learning. The goal of blended learning is to
provide the most efficient and effective instruction experience by combining delivery modalities. With the technology we
have today, blended learning can incorporate new innovations that are only limited by our imaginations. This type of
learning is really very well adapted to the needs of agricultural SMEs because it spares time and money, and the most of
their training could be undertaken directly from the computer on their farms. This type of learning in agricultural sector
in Bulgaria is still new. The biggest target group for the moment are the young farmers, who need to complete a training
course of 150 hours in order to fulfil the requirements regarding the execution of their projects to be financed by the EU
rural development measure 112 “Settlement of young farmers”. The rationale being they are much more up to date with
the new communication technologies as computers, tablets, smart phones, etc., than the other agricultural producers, they
generally have access to internet on their farms and most of them appreciate this type of training.
Blended learning means a combination of an online intervention or computer simulation with the live classroom (in the
field) learning. The types of learning used are live face-to-face, virtual collaboration (synchronous or asynchronous), selfpaced with performance support tools. As technology evolves very rapidly, UARD has a variety of media available to put
in the “blend”. They use live e-learning classes or web and video conferencing, web learning modules with coaching and
e-mentoring, video and audio CD/DVDs, online self-assessments tests and workbooks. Plus, they can always rely on the
traditional classroom and in the field training. UARD team designed blended training for young farmers by analyzing the
training course objectives and breaking them down into the smallest learning objects. Afterwards the best approach –
online or live - to deliver each segment of learning object was identified. The course was then aggregated by grouping the
learning objects logically while taking into account the medium of delivery and the minimum requirements of the
National Rural Development Program. For each type of farmers in the horticultural or animal breeding sector, they have
the choice to follow the traditional classroom and in the field courses or blended type courses. There is no fixed proportion
between the online training part and the traditional training part and for each course it is different. The only requirement
is for the completion of a minimum amount of practical training in the various topics. Indeed, UARD is trying to design
courses including more and more online training. This type of blended training was started one and a half years ago.
61
UARD affirms that this concept definitely works and up to this moment around 550 young farmers have successfully
completed the training course.
The principle of equal opportunities for the farmers is rigorously respected and there is no cost involved for the young
farmers participating in such a training courses because UARD is beneficiary of a project under Measure 111 “Training,
Information and Diffusion of Knowledge” of the National Rural Development Program and all the costs for the young
farmers are covered by this program. Nor are there any costs incurred by UARD regarding these training courses because
they are reimbursed after the completion of every training course cycle. UARD is participating in a network with
Bulgarian and European universities in order to exchange teaching good practice and participate in student exchange
practice. Their teachers have been trained in terms of an EU funded project on how to display online courses concerning
agricultural matters.
The innovation in blended learning is extremely important and it’s is twofold:
 By the delivery methods – all possible and the best adapted methods such as e-learning classes, web and video
conferencing, web learning modules with coaching and e-mentoring, video audio MP3/4 files or CD/DVDs,
online self-assessments tests, etc.;
 By the combination of those methods- tailor-made combinations regarding the topics, the audience and the
availability of the young farmers.
This practice has numerous added value elements:
 Money saving;
 Time saving;
 Best farm management;
 Best learning results;
 Best understanding and real use of the course topics.
INNOVATION TRANSFER
Economic resources
The UARD has 3 training centers, where the live part of the training courses (practical training and classroom training)
for young farmers takes place. For the online training, the IT equipment (servers, computers, other hardware and software
configurations, etc.) of the UARD are used. There are between 8 and 10 teachers involved for each training courses, 2
online training administrators, 1 IT system administrator, 2-3 administrative employees in each centre, offices, office
equipment and stationery. The cost for UARD for training one young farmer is around € 1.000,00, but this cost is 100%
refunded by the National Rural Development Program. The report comparing the resources used and the results obtained
shows excellent results and UARD plans to extend this type of blended learning to other categories of farmers.
Staff
Between 8 and 10 teachers, who are qualified in the topics they are teaching, are involved each training course. For the
online training there are two online training administrators and an IT system administrator dealing with the technical
issues, 2-3 administrative employees in each training centre, offices, office equipment and stationery.
62
Know-how
The training of the university teachers regarding the online training delivery was made via EU funded project, good
practice exchanges between Bulgarian and European universities. UARD is undertaking permanent monitoring regarding
new innovative delivery methods or IT and web technical devices in order to enhance the quality and the efficiency of
the delivered training to the young farmers.
UARD experienced several problem regarding the implementation of the blended type courses:
 Regarding the project approval to be beneficiary of a project under Measure 111 “Training, Information and
Diffusion of Knowledge” of the National Rural Development Program;
 To convince the young farmers to choose the blended type courses instead of the traditional ones;
 To design the blended training courses and provide good training to the teachers performing online training
courses.



The UARD approval to be beneficiary of a project under Measure 111 took almost two years mainly because
of administrative problems in the Contracting body (The State fund “Agriculture”) but their project was good
and pertinent so eventually it was approved and realized;
The original difficulties in persuading the young farmer to choose the blended type learning course was
overcame by a good information programme explaining the benefits of such type of training (time saving, best
farm management, etc.);
The training of the teachers was provided by an EU funded project and the design of this type of courses was
on the basis of own know-how, consultations and exchanges with other universities or private companies
providing such type of trainings courses.


UARD is a private owned university, the management and the team are very flexible regarding innovation and
technologies based methods of training delivery;
The management and the team believe that the technology and innovation transfer of knowledge is the future
in the field of education.
The UARD was created some 20 years ago and today it is one of the most respected private universities in Bulgaria in the
field of Agriculture. UARD has on-going experience regarding the blended type of training for their students. In 2010,
the UARD management decided that it would be very useful and helpful to try to introduce such type of training for the
young farmers training courses, delivered by UARD.
After a difficult start, today the blended type of training courses for young farmers designed by UARD is becoming more
and more popular. With more than 550 young farmers, having benefited from this type of learning the last year and a
half, the technological and innovation means evolving quite rapidly, UARD management is absolutely convinced that the
63
online training is the future in the education field and its part will increase. The relevance of the good practice is more
that evident, in terms of time, costs and efficiency. The other important aspect is that this type of training is free for the
beneficiaries and the university because it is financed on the National Rural Development Program.
This practice and methods are easily transferable to all the partners’ countries. The level of resources involved is relatively
high but there is the possibility that under an EU programme, the costs involved may be refunded.
64
AGROHOMEOPATHY – NOVEL OLD APPROACH IN
HORTICULTURE AND ANIMAL BREEDING
Presented by: KGZS
Name of
Company
the
 Ph. Agrohomeopatija za rastline in škodljivc
Eng. Majda Ortan s.p. (PH Agrohomeopaty for plants and pests)
Type
Company
of
 Private company, micro enterprise
Address
City and Region
Ob Meži 30
 Prevalje
Postal code
 SI – 2391
Country
 Slovenia

Phone
(+386) (0) 70 820 279
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.cora-agrohomeopathie.com
Conventional agriculture is facing problems connected to growing demand for pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. This
kind of agriculture can pose environmental threat for ground water, biodiversity and by entering food chain also for
human health. Organic and biodynamic practices, as known alternatives, have their limitations. One of methods not
limited to certain agricultural practice is Agrohomeopathy. It is based on modified approaches of homeopathy with aim
to ensure equilibrium in the plant and its environment to obtain healthy plants and optimal yields of high quality. Local
sources of raw material guarantee efficiency of CORA Agrohomeopaty preparations in European pedo-climatic
conditions. The method is useful in all agricultural activities and indirectly also in animal breeding. Animals fed with fodder
treated with CORA Agrohomeopaty are healthier and have better breeding or milk production parameters. CORA
Agrohomeopaty products are successful also in sectors of fruit growing, vine-growing, gardening, hp production, forestry
and elsewhere where common pesticides can’t help.
1. Source (author): the author of products CORA Agrohomeopathy is Eng. Majda ORTAN;
2. Technology/innovation: products CORA Agrohomeopaty are based upon natural modified principles of
homeopathy by diluting small amounts of alcohol extract of certain natural substances and potentiating them.
Till now more than 70 products in four groups of CORA Agrohomeopathy preparations are on the market;
3. Type of beneficiaries and number: AJDA association for biodynamic management and other associations of
gardeners, Association of Rose Breeders, Professional Horticulturalists and others (more than 7000 members).
Important are organic or biodynamic farmers. Taking in consideration that conventional farming doesn’t exclude
the use of CORA Agrohomeopathy preparations, the group of beneficiaries can be widened to all agricultural
practices and animal breeders. Test results have proven that preparations work well also in glasshouses with
vegetable or ornamental plants production;
4. Consequences: the use of CORA Agrohomeopathy remedies is environmental friendly and sustainable. Very
small amounts of source substance are used for mother tincture. Preparations CORA Agrohomeopaty do not
interfere with ground water or cumulate in the plants or their products. There is no possibility of environmental
pollution in any phase of production or use. Products have very small carbon footprint during their lifecycle.
Starting material is taken from the nature in small amounts and does not interfere with biodiversity. Animals or
humans are not in danger by use of these products. Overall condition of plants is better and they can successfully
65
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
cope with challenges of climate changes (drought, hail, storms, etc.). The result is higher crop of high quality
parameters;
Results: till now CORA Agrohomeopathy products are sold in specialized shops and by internet. Verification
done by numerous individual customers has proven good applicability and ease of use. Demonstrations and
presentations of agrohomeopathy are organized through all of Slovenia. There were some good media coverage
of events (popular and expert articles, radio and TV coverage, interviews);
Mechanisms/Methods of transfer: transfer of the knowledge is done by Mrs. Ortan herself by personal
presentations trough media (also internet), presentations in shops and on different events. She uses networking
for promotion and cooperates with different players and different interest groups. Preparations are being sold
in specialized shops in Slovenia. Detailed Instructions for use are available on company’s internet website and in
printed version. Training and education of advisers and sales personal is organized;
More details regarding the transfer process: Since the business is still very small a lot of work is done by Eng.
Ortan. She is also assuring additional assistance advising farmers, professional vegetable and ornamentals
producers, fruit and hop growers, and other agricultural producers. In cooperation with growers and support
institutions (Institute for hop and brewery of Slovenia, Hmezad company, public farmers advising service at
CAFS.) many technical leaflets were completed. For her record she practices follow-up of the cultivation to gain
as much results of use of her preparations;
Other information: according to Eng. Ortan there is little interest of business support entities for the innovation
till now. As an author she was not apart of any international innovation research project and is not a member of
national/transnational networks, poles or clusters. Her work was developed as an activity of personal interest
besides her daily job. In 2011, when she met producer of homeopathy she decided to form a micro enterprise.
The use of innovative CORA Agrohomeopaty does not require any additional training to implement the
technology. Also the proof of training for use of phytopharmaceutical substances, which is obligatory for all
users of pesticides, is not required. Instructions are clear and easy to understand and innovation can be
implemented by the owner, grower or by any other worker on farm or in SME. Technology leaflets are in
preparation for different crops and ornamental plants. Application can be done by existing application
equipment (sprayers) or manually (irrigation);
SMEs accessibility to the service: Preparations CORA Agrohomeopaty are on sale in specialized stores and there
are no legal limitations to purchase them. There is no request for higher level of development or knowledge in
order to implement innovation for SMEs. The range of costs for preparations (in Slovenia) is between € 14 (1,5g
granule) to € 300 (1000ml of preparation).
Innovative use of knowledge of homeopathy transferred into practice of agriculture. Treating plants, their crops and
repel pests in sustainable, cost efficient and environmental safe way. Innovative are also source substances for mother
tinctures, instructions for production of complexes. All CORA Agrohomeopaty products are personal innovation of the
author.
CORA Agrohomeopaty products are sustainable oriented, cost efficient, environmentally safe and can be applied in wide
range of professional or hobby horticultural and agricultural activities. Food and fodder obtained with products are
energetically live, which is one of prerequisites for human or animal wellbeing. Innovative is also the ease of use. There
is no need for special treatment of packaging (packaging of phytosanitary preparations is treated as a “special hazardous
waste”). The production is energy efficient and the need for raw materials is low. They are from renewable sources.
Lifecycle analysis of CORA Agrohomeopaty remedies shows very low carbon footprint. Easiness of use, makes CORA
Agrohomeopaty useful in big and small agricultural production (SMEs) with low expenses and no health hazard.
Especially on smaller local family farms with limited financial resources. Development of voluntary certification scheme
66
or private standard for special quality of products grown by help of CORA Agrohomeopaty products is also considered
for better recognition and higher value of produce.
INNOVATION TRANSFER
Economic resources
Since innovation is the result of authors 34 years of experiments resources can’t be evaluated in terms of money. Decision
to form a small company had financial consequences and since enterprise is very new the search for financial services is
still in the progress. . Also resources made by selling products are redirected into development of company and marketing
activities.
Staff
Eng. Ortan is only employee and she cooperates with small homeopathic pharmacy in Austria where her preparations
are produced. Since the company is on the start all activities of transferring the knowledge, public relations, conducting
the experiments, propagating the products and marketing is done by the owner. In some activities people of good will,
FAS at CAFS and some NGOs help her as volunteers. For people involved in the process the knowledge of agriculture
practices, competences in sustainable farming and understanding principles of homeopathy are desirable.
Know-how
Training of selling personal is done by Eng. Ortan herself. She holds different lectures and demonstrations also for general
public, members of different associations in schools and elsewhere.
There was potential legal problem if CORA Agrohomeopaty product would get status of phytosanitary product. Big
obstacles are small domestic market and short time in the business. Common perception and knowledge about
homeopathy in Slovenia is very low. Because of that revenues from the selling do not enable faster enterprise development
in the moment.
Slovenian Phytosanitary Authority, after intensive talks with author, declared products of CORA Agrohomeopaty as
“products for common use” with no restrictions. Active search for financial support, serious partners or distributors all
over the Europe is in progress. Important new market opportunities are in markets where common perception of
homeopathy is more favorable (Austria, Germany, Switzerland, etc.). Author is considering the idea of franchising for her
products. Active cooperation with associations interested in ideas of permaculture, organic farming, home gardening,
local self-sufficiency, NGOs concerned by ecology, sustainability and biodiversity issues. Also cooperation with
professional institutions, companies and SMEs in horticulture and animal breeding sectors will be continued.
The most important success factor is growing awareness about need and possibilities for more sustainable agricultural
practices with significant less impact to environment and humans developing in young population. Possibility of use of
local resources of raw material and production of custom made preparations. Technology is easy to use. It enables
production of high quality energetic live food and fodder. Possibility of use of innovative technology in all sectors of
horticulture, crop production and indirectly also on animal breeding is another factor of possible success.
67
Conventional agriculture is bound to high input of fertilizers, pesticides and other substances. Practices depend on nonrenewable raw materials and energetic resources. Intensive agricultural activity can pose threat to environment,
underground water, biodiversity and human health. Production, transport and use of pesticides and fertilizers is energy
demanding with carbon footprint. Considerable share of crop is lost due to pest and disease damages. Also more by
drought and other problems connected to climate changes. Some solutions were given by practices of integrated, organic,
biodynamic and permaculture farming, but the problems of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are still not resolved. There
is permanent necessity for more sustainable, environmental friendly practice. Customers became more aware and are
searching for food of higher quality. Energetic alive food which can be produced by use of CORA Agrohomeopaty
products is not on the market yet. One of goals of European Common Agricultural Policy is achieving high grade of
self-sufficiency and use of sustainable and innovative methods in agriculture. Technology of agrohomeopathy can be a
tool for that.
Direct beneficiaries are farmers and SMEs in sector of horticulture an animal breeding, who can use this innovative
approach to improve health of their plants and animals. Use of CORA Agrohomeopaty products give good results in
growing of vegetables, ornamental plants, fruit and vine growing Evaluation of the use of CORA Agrohomeopaty
preparations is in progress on different fields in Slovenia and weekly evaluation and demonstration of results is organized.
Results in hop-yard, pastures and different crops show good potential of the use of products.
The approach of agrohomeopathy is novel in horticulture and animal breeding. All the results of the introduction, training,
promotion, advising and use of CORA Agrohomeopaty are easy transferable through all the European pedoclimatic
conditions. Eng. Ortan is open for different ways of cooperation.
68
SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION TRANSFER ON
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEVEL
Name of
Company
the
 Enterprise Europe Network Consortium - Bulgaria
Type
Company
of
 N/A
Address
City and Region
5, Alexander Zhendov Str.
 Sofia
Postal code
 1113
Country
 Bulgaria
 (+359) 29733588
Phone
(+359) 29733000/344
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.enterprise-europe-network.bg
Enterprise Europe Network was launched in February 2008 as an initiative of the Directorate General “Enterprise” the
European Commission. The network is the successor of the former Euro Info Centres (EIC) and Innovation Relay
Centres (IRC). The Enterprise Europe Network is the key project, by which the European Commission is helping small
businesses to innovate and succeed in the increasingly competitive global economy.
Offering combined “one-stop shop” services of these two highly successful predecessors makes Enterprise Europe
Network the largest information and consulting network in the world, providing practical answers to the language of
business. Enterprise Europe Network has 600 member organizations from 50 countries.
The EEN - Bulgaria member organizations include chambers of commerce and industry, technology centres, research
institutes, development agencies and NGOs. As members of the Enterprise Europe Network, these organizations are
linked to powerful databases for new technologies and business contacts, through which different partners in all countries
of the network can be found.
Enterprise Europe Network is co-financed by the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP, 2007-13) of the
EU. Its services are tailored to SMEs, but also are available to all other companies, universities and research centres, as
well as individual inventors.
Enterprise Europe Network accommodates the largest database in Europe and abroad for advanced technologies and
business applications containing more than 13000 profiles with dozens of new entries every week.
If a company needs a certain technology or innovation to boost its business, the network can help it finding them. If, the
company offers its own innovative technology or product, the network will assist the company in reaching the right
partners.
Experts of the network can produce individual company profile on requested or offered technology to be spread through
the database or to declare the interests of the company to previously published foreign profiles in the field of operation
of the company.
The network experts make visits on site to discuss opportunities for the company technological upgrade or marketing of
its innovative ideas.
69
Offering the combined services of its highly successful predecessors, and more, the Enterprise Europe Network Bulgaria are a true one-stop shop for small businesses.
More than 3000 experienced staff provide companies with practical answers to specific questions in their own language.
The Bulgarian experts working for the Enterprise Europe Network are 71, distributed among 15 centres throughout the
country.
The Network possesses the largest database in Europe and abroad for advanced technologies and business applications
containing more than 13000 profiles.
With the technology profile the company can also participate in the bilateral business meetings (B2B) organized by the
network across Europe, where pre-scheduled meetings with potential partner are arranged. These events are usually
organized during international fairs and exhibitions, where new technologies meet business opportunities.
The Enterprise Europe Network really works as a network involving the efforts of all network members and offers a set
of additional services that include:
 Going international
The EEN business database contains thousands of company profiles and companies can meet potential business
partners in person at network’s matchmaking events. With hundreds of new company profiles added every week,
the network’s business cooperation database is one of the largest worldwide. The Network also organizes
matchmaking events across Europe where SMEs can meet potential business partners in person;
 Access to finance
The Enterprise Europe Network experts can help companies to get the finance they need to grow;
 Research funding
Taking part in an EU-funded research project is a great way to boost company’s competitiveness. The Enterprise
Europe Network helps SMEs get there. Its experts will help companies identify their needs and potential and connect
them with the right partners for successful projects;
 Advice on EU law and standards
The Enterprise Europe Network’s experts provide information about how EU laws and regulations affect businesses
and can help companies find their way through the legal maze and make it easier to sell their product or service in
another EU country;
 Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) services
If a company is interested in commercializing a new idea, product, service or process, the Enterprise Europe
Network will help it work out how to protect and make the most of its ideas and technologies;
 Speak up on EU law
The European Commission wants feedback on what impact its legislative proposals and initiatives are having on
small businesses.
INNOVATION TRANSFER
Economic resources
The economic resources are provided by network members and the European Commission, where Network members
fund 40% to 45% with their own resources and the Commission provides the remaining 60% to 55%. The budget of
70
each EEN member depends on its own estimation and on the overall budget of all consortium members and may differ
a lot in the different countries, because it is linked to the number of population of the country.
The Enterprise Europe Network provides FREE services to its clients. This is a requirement of the EC.
Staff
A requirement of the Commission is that it is important to include a limited number of core staff dedicating most or all
of their time to the provision of business support services.
The staff of an EEN centre should be at least 3 full-time equivalents (= experts).
The staff should be fluent in English language, because this is the official language of the Network.
Know-how
The staff of the EEN is undertaking a training every year on general European matters and enterprise policy. The training
sessions are taking place in Brussels, Bulgaria or in another member state of the Network.
Each newcomer staff to the Network goes under a specialized training in Brussels dedicated to newcomers, on which
newcomers get familiar with the way the Network works, as well as how to provide services to clients, in details. The
training can also take place online.
There is also staff exchange between organizations within the Network.
The obstacles that have occurred regarding the technological transfer are: 1) Not knowing the Network and how
companies can benefit from its services; 2) Lack of good knowledge of English language or not knowing foreign
languages at all on behalf of network customers.
Better Adopted measures include: 1) Better promotion of the Network; 2) Technology profiles of EEN clients who
cannot communicate in English language are not submitted and clients are asked to attract a person with good English
language knowledge to work with them before proceeding with the profile submission.
Success factors are: good network presentation in the EU, Europe as a whole and in key third countries on other
continents; the largest database with technology profiles worldwide; the networking effect; and the free services.
Innovation is a process introducing new products, services or procedures, either in response to concrete market needs or
to pioneer a new market niche. R&D activities and technological development are among the richest resources for
innovation, but by far not the only ones: innovation can come from all sorts of sources, including non-technological ones.
There is no single best way to reduce gaps in the innovation capacities of European regions. Knowledge, skills and ideas
are only the raw material that needs to be crafted into successful products. The Network’s job is to help this transition
from idea to market materialize.
Key figures (December 2012):
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The Network provides information and services to more than 2 million European small- and medium-sized businesses
each year. Since its launch in February 2008, the Network has attracted around 90000 small businesses to international
brokerage events and company missions. In its first three years in operation, the Network carried out close to 100000
technology, IPR, finance and business reviews in SMEs, helping them license or source the right partners or technology.
The Network has helped around 7000 companies sign technology and business partnership agreements. These
partnership services have an impact on turnover of an estimated € 220.000,00 per company. They generate around 1000
additional jobs each year. The Network has helped 2 400 SMEs to apply for funding under the FP7 programme. The
Network’s experts have answered around 375000 questions on EU-related topics, giving international and innovation
support to 60000 companies in 2011 alone
The good practice is easily transferable to business support organizations in all SEE countries. All SEE countries are
already well presented in the Enterprise Europe Network.
Bulgarian National website: http://enterprise-europe-network.bg/en
Website of the European Commission: http://een.ec.europa.eu/home
72
Section
4
Effective approaches for promoting and
facilitating entrepreneurship in the target sectors
WORKSHOP 4
Albania, 21-22 October 2013
Name
Who generated
Bulgarian
Business
Angels
Network
supports
entrepreneurship in the horticultural and animal breeding
sector
Bulgarian Business
Network Ltd.
iFarm: a farm management application for mobile devices
Agrostis
Entrepreneurial Animation
Trentino Sviluppo Spa
University of Ruse – EcoBiz Info Centres and EcoBiz Fair
University of Ruse
Center for Agricultural Entrepreneurship at the American
Farm School - Perrotis College
Center
for
Agricultural
Entrepreneurship
LugoNextLab new opportunity to develop your projects and
enter a business
LugoNextLab
73
Angels
BULGARIAN BUSINESS ANGELS NETWORK SUPPORTS
ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE HORTICULTURAL AND ANIMAL
BREEDING SECTOR
Presented by: BEF
Name of
Company
the
 Bulgarian Business Angels Network Ltd.
Type
Company
of
 Limited liability company
Address
City and Region
18, Shipchenski Prohod str., Postal code
Galaxy Trade Center, floor 5,
office 502
 Sofia
 1113
Country
 Bulgaria
 (+359) 24904226
Phone
(+359) 24904225
Fax
E-mail
Website
http://bban.eu/
http://exchange.bban.eu/
http://www.ventures.bban.eu/
The SMEs in horticultural and animal breeding sector, especially the startups, very often experience difficulties in finding
financial resources or need mentorship in order better to develop their activities. Nowadays, the situation is even worse
because of the economic crisis, the high cost levels and the strong competition on the market. Finding venture capital
and equity financing for entrepreneurs is often the only option for the successful realization of a project. Since 2007, the
Bulgarian Business Angels Network (BBAN) has provided a valuable solution which supports the promotion and the
facilitation of the entrepreneurship in those sectors. The main role of BBAN is to bridge the existing capital divide by
linking entrepreneurs with investors and assisting venture capital funding of start-ups, pre-seed and seed seeking projects
and companies in the early stages of their development. BBAN connects those who have realistic business ideas, possess
entrepreneurial skills but lack the finance which may be provided by informal private investors interested in doing business
in Bulgaria and other south east European countries. BBAN’s main mission is to turn prospective ideas into profitable
enterprises. Its fundamental principle is not to be the first and only provider of this service, but to be the unique business
model in itself and to deliver a market-driven project development approach.
Bulgarian Business Angels Network has built three separate web based platforms, which are presented in a structured
and easy-to-use form:
 One for the investors, who are Business Angel Network members: investors have the right to receive only
projects that meet in their entirety the criteria (unlimited number) set by them, determine whether their
investment preferences to be made public in the form of presentation of investment criteria, while fully
maintaining confidentiality. Those actions improve not only the number but also the quality of the proposals
received;
 One for entrepreneurs: entrepreneurs complete their projects in two forms: Summary is the short version of
the submitted project proposal while Memorandum its full version, available only to registered and identified
74
members of BBAN. After approval, the project becomes an integral part of the Contract signed by every
entrepreneur for each project submitted;
 The Exchange Platform (http://exchange.bban.eu/). On this platform, each registered investor can comment
on and evaluate each project, have direct efficient communication in real time with the entrepreneur regarding a
project, etc. It also allows the provision of information for unregistered visitors without jeopardizing the
anonymity and confidentiality of any registered entrepreneur or business angel.
Whether you are a Business Angel or entrepreneur, the process of the implementation of venture capital funding by
BBAN passes through various integrated phases:
 Submission of a project and filtering - answer in 48 hours;
 Initial approval;
 Contract with BBAN;
 Presentation of the project;
 Negotiations with investor(s);
 Finalizing the transaction and signing the agreement on investment protocol.
BBAN also provides additional services such as market and marketing research, business registration or documentation
of a capital increase, an assessment of the situation before, during and after the investment plus additional services.
This service is really accessible to the SMEs in horticultural and animal breeding sector. There is no entry tax or fee for
the entrepreneurial projects. There is a 5% fee only when an agreement on investment intention is signed. Moreover,
when the project is sufficiently attractive for BBAN, there will not be a cash payment of the commission, but
remuneration will be in the form of shares in the company.
It is not necessary for the SME to have a particular level of development or knowledge in order to access the service
provided by BBAN.
Innovative way to find interest free financial resources for the SMEs. Free mentorship possibilities for the SMEs in order
to achieve better economical results.




Interest free financial resources;
Management experience and know-how;
Marketing and management advice;
Appropriate contacts and reputation.
Economic resources
Hardware devices (servers, computers, etc.), software programs and applications, office, office equipment, stationery, etc.
The total cost for BBAN for the services provided is important but it is covered by:
 Membership annual fee, which is paid by the registered investors;
 Sponsorship;
 Advertisements;
 Fee paid by entrepreneurs on successful outcome.
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The report on ratio of resources to results is very good and promising because the number of the projects, which have
found an investor is significant.
Staff
BBAN employs three web platform administrators, three system administrators, 4 project assessment and contracting
agents, an office manager and a manager, all of whom have the appropriate education and qualifications.
Know-how


Training courses for the staff on a regular basis regarding the project assessment and IT matters;
Good practice exchanges with others European Business Angels Networks.
At the beginning there were some difficulties in convincing the SMEs in horticultural and animal breeding sector to
choose this type of investment.
Implementation of a strategy to convince the SMEs that the BBAN approach is better and more appropriate than the
traditional method because of the quicker replay to the entrepreneur and investor needs, friendly and precise customer
care, proactive reaction toward the identified needs of the clients.
The main factor facilitating the service delivery is that through BBAN every partner has the right and, according to its
own needs, to determine when, how and to what extent each will seek the assistance of BBAN or the network partner.
Other success factors are the quick reply after project submission, the informal investment environment, confidentiality,
transparency and partnership.
The Bulgarian Business Angels Network (BBAN) was incorporated as a limited liability company in 2007. This legal form
allows more flexibility, yet ensuring certainty for both customers and partners, particularly in view of the current trends
and preferences of business angels and entrepreneurs. BBAN is member of the European Business Angel Network from
2008.
The Bulgarian Business Angels Network was created because the following needs were identified:
 Need to support the financing of small and medium sized enterprises;
 Need to provide opportunities for the development of entrepreneurship and innovation;
 Need to develop the informal venture capital market;
 Need to contribute to the professionalization of the activities of Business Angels.
The Bulgarian Business Angels Network (BBAN) is still the only nation-wide platform in Bulgaria which promotes and
facilitates entrepreneurship by providing matching services between entrepreneurs seeking equity finance for their projects
and investors, interested in doing business in Bulgaria or other south east European countries. More and more SMEs in
horticultural and animal breeding sector are looking for this type of informal financing and mentorship because nowadays
76
it really hard for them, especially in those targeted sectors to access the essential financial resources. The results are more
than promising with, up until now, more than 300 projects having found an investor. The interest in this type of
partnership is getting growing, not only on the part of entrepreneurs, but also from investors.
The methods and the approach of this good practice are easy transferrable to the other partner counties because the
network is well-known in the most of the European countries through the European Business Angels Network and the
results obtained are the proof that it works.
77
IFARM: A FARM MANAGEMENT APPLICATION FOR MOBILE
DEVICES
Name of
Company
the
 Agrostis
Type
Company
of
 SME
Address
City and Region
A.Tritsi 21 St.
Pylaia Thessaloniki
 Volos, Thessaly
Postal code
 57001
Country
 Greece
 (+30) 2310804980
Phone
(+30) 2310804981
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.agrostis.gr
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/agrostis.gr
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/agrostis_gr
Farm operations are becoming more and more business oriented. Farms become bigger and bigger. They use different
type of resources and there is high competition in the market. At the same time EU regulation mainly through the
Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) put stricter laws and rules for protecting the environment. Agrostis is a new ICT
based company based in Thessaloniki-Greece, which aims to provide products and services and new IT technologies
exclusively in the primary sector (Agriculture - Livestock).
Agrostis provides services to the following sectors:
 Precision Agriculture: An application (iFarm) suitable for smartphones and tablets has been developed to for
assist farmers in farm management decisions and services;
 Control Systems Greenhouse: Agrostis is the exclusive distributor for Greece of automatic control systems
greenhouses Dutch SERCOM;
 Livestock: Application designed to monitor and manage livestock unit;
 Microalgae: Agrostis, in cooperation with the firm Biotopic from Denmark, offers a wide range of development,
design and research related to the production of microalgae.
Services provided:
 Planning & Scheduling;
 Human Resources Management;
 Cultivation & Inventory;
 Agriculture Inputs Management;
 Financial Management;
78
 Harvesting Post Harvest Marketing.
Methods used:
 iFarm is an ICT tool designed to run in smartphones and tablets. Initially a literature and study of international
market has been contacted. The design of database is follow next. Suitable algorithms were developed and
integrated in the relative platform. Finally the code and the GUI were development and the application was
given to selected farmers for its pilot phase.
Type and number of beneficiaries:
 iFarm is currently tested by 10 farmers. A national conference is planned to be organized in the end of 2013
where the results of the trial period will be analyzed. In the next step I Farm will be tested from 100 users all
around Greece.
Follow-up activities:
 Participation in conference, growers meeting, and exhibitions.
SMEs accessibility to the service:
 Currently the service is available to all SMEs of the Horticulture and Animal Breeding Sector, free of charge
and the SME does not need to have special knowledge in order to receive the services of the Association. After
the trial period a registration fees will be required in order the users receive updates and on-line support.
The iFarm is a native application for mobile devices. The main advantages are:
 Full portability;
 Data are stored on internet with cloud technology;
 Ability to record positioning (GPS);
 Display properties in the device map;
 Use of camera;
 Automatic data synchronization;
 No internet connection is required.
Overview of whole farm business:
 Recording assets and liabilities of the company;
 Logging operations and inputs.
Finance control and cost control:
 Income;
 Expenditure;
 Markets – stocks;
 Services and fees;
 Cash flows.
Increase the productivity and efficiency:
 Good Agricultural Practices;
 Standards Programs;
79
 Programming;
 Calendars – reminders.
Improve my decisions:
 Economic analysis and cost analysis per crop and input;
 Better communication with the consultant – agronomist;
 Historic data for all activities and financial results.
Put added value in the products:
 Logging operations and inspection check rates;
 Participation in management and certification;
 Keeping Time allowed reintroduction before harvest;
 Traceability level lot for yield;
 New markets.
Economic resources
 Cost of the service
Currently the service is provided to the SMEs for free. After this initially pilot phase the cost will be as shown in the
following table (prices in Euro).
Number of months /
number of licenses
1
6
12
24
1
2-5
6-10
11-50
>50
25
144
270
720
141
264
702
135
255
693
240
648
225
603
 Value for money of the service
The value for money for the service is high, since the service is provided initially free, so the farmer or the association or
the group of farmers can test and evaluate it free of charge. The cost of service after the evaluation period is considered
low and it is mainly for updates and on-line support.
Staff
The staff of Agrostis that is involved in the activities of the iFarm service are:
 Two full time personnel, involved in the development of the service;
 One full time personnel, involved in preparing, developing and implementing the services (providing
information, assistance, consulting to farmers);
 Two part time personnel, providing IT support and secretarial services:
o Secretary: secretarial studies, good command in foreign languages (English and German);
o IT responsible: IT studies, good command in English.
80
Know-how
The staff is undertaking training continuously for state tuned with EU legislation, and national policies in agriculture
production.
Agrostis has not faced any major problems that are worth mentioning. The information of the growers for the application
and its use is considered the major problem that can be mentioned.
Organization of training seminars, participation in growers meetings and in agricultural conferences.
The application is tested in a pilot phase, but till now according the farmers that have been used the application there is a
high degree of satisfaction and all of them will highly recommend the application to other farmers.
The biggest challenge for farmers in the future will be to effectively manage information on and off their farms to
improve economic viability and reduce environmental impact. Farms of tomorrow have to be able to meet environmental
and societal standards through advanced technologies and ICT tools. Although most people can see the benefits of using
a more precise approach to manage crops with additional information, the tools provided by precision farming and other
information technologies have not yet moved into mainstream agricultural management. The increased complexity of
the systems inhibits easy adoption and makes calculations as to the financial benefits uncertain. These issues can be
resolved by improving the decision making process though better Management Information Systems, improved data
interchange standards and clear management methods.
iFarm is currently tested by 10 farmers. A national conference is planned to be organized in the end of 2013 where the
results of the trial period will be analyzed. In the next step I Farm will be tested from 100 users all around Greece.
The application (iFarm) runs in smartphone and tablets. In the near future on-line (web based) and desktop versions
will be developed. The application can without any modifications used from other countries.
http://ifarma.agrostis.gr
81
ENTREPRENEURIAL ANIMATION
Name of
Company
the
 Trentino Sviluppo Spa
Type
Company
of
 Unipersonal Spa (VAT num. 00123240228)
Management and Coordination by Autonomous Province of Trento
Address
City and Region
Via Fortunato Zeni, 8
 Rovereto (TN)
Postal code
 38068
Country
 Italy
Fax
 (+39) 0464443112
Phone
(+39) 0464443111
E-mail
Website
PEC:
[email protected]
www.trentinosviluppo.it
Trentino Sviluppo has created a range of services for aspiring entrepreneurs. One of them is called “Entrepreneurial
Animation”: a series of field activities designed to inform and assist those who want to open a new business step by step.
This service is intended only for residents of the Province of Trento with no age limit.
In conjunction with the various municipal authorities in Trentino, Trentino Sviluppo organizes periodic information
evenings to present their self-employment support projects (“Entrepreneurial Animation”). Following these information
meetings, they organize individual private interviews with entrepreneurs interested in the project, to assess their motivation
and to decide on the most appropriate form of assistance. Trentino Sviluppo then organizes a series of training meetings
during which they provide the aspiring entrepreneur with the necessary tools to develop a basic business plan; these
meetings are followed up by detailed analysis and checking of the “job plan”.
Furthermore, the would-be entrepreneur is introduced to trade associations, local authorities and various provincial
services, which can provide him with further information and support.
 Information and involvement: the animation model of entrepreneurial (by Trentino Sviluppo)
The process of assistance to those who want to start a business, or those who simply have an entrepreneurial dream
in the drawer and wants to assess the feasibility, usually begins with the evening meetings in the municipalities in
connection with which, through special questionnaires, have been surveyed the demand of entrepreneurship.
Some individual interviews with aspiring entrepreneurs are locally organized to determine, in individual cases, the
actual motivation behind the “desire of enterprise”, which is followed by the preparation of meetings of technical
assistance “job plan” (not a classic business plan). The scope is to perceive the importance of planning activities
through targeted insights on topics such as corporate strategy, finance and administration, verification of plans drawn
up and feedback. When the phase of technical assistance is over, it’s up to aspiring entrepreneurs determine if, as and
when you decide to start your own new business.
Only then the final phase of the assistance team of agents of development begins, that of the so-called
“accompanying”: aspiring entrepreneurs are accompanied at the provincial or municipal offices and trade associations
in the area to request the necessary authorizations, certificates, legal requirements, etc.
82





Public events with distribution of questionnaires;
Contact and in-depth interviews;
Ad hoc training;
Personalized support to specialized facilities to meet every requirement;
USB stick containing information manual and excel file with rudimentary “job plan”.
To discourage entrepreneurs who have planned activities with no chance of success; this beneficial action brings benefits
to both the community and to the territory, being able to re-direct the would-be entrepreneurs to other business targets.
Economic resources
The service is provided only through staff costs.
Staff
The entire company employs around 130 people. In this service just one person is engaged as internal staff; in addition
to him there are 3 external consultants who are primarily concerned in the recruitment in the area.
Know-how
Study in economics, sociology and territorial development. External staff is very integrated in the community and knows
the specific socio-economic territory.
The service has been precisely designed to meet the specific needs of Trentino. The crisis and generalized job loss has
created a boom of accesses to the service desk.
Due to the large turnout at the desk, the meetings in the area were suspended.
Services provided are integrated in the company offer.
Strong personalization of the service due to the knowledge of territory and all its peculiarity: municipal and rural areas,
touristic and agricultural areas.
Activities Results in the 2012:
83









Events of local promotion: 9;
Participants in the events: 390;
Business ideas presented: 284;
Participants in the interviews: 300;
Training days: 20;
Participants in the evenings training: 225;
Business plans developed: 100;
Meetings organized with technical assistance agencies, provincial departments, trade associations, etc.: 110;
Start-ups: 41.
All events are public, there are no promotional costs excluding staff costs.
Through collaboration with the local authorities you can either use the facilities already in place, indoors and outdoors, to
accommodate the orientation events.
For further information visit www.trentinosviluppo.com
English version: http://www.trentinosviluppo.com/Servizi/I-am-interested-in/Becoming-an-entrepreneur/Selfemployed-businessmen
84
UNIVERSITY OF RUSE – ECOBIZ INFO CENTRES AND ECOBIZ
FAIR
Name of
Company
the
 University of Ruse
Type
Company
of
 University
Address
City and Region
8, Studentska Str
 Ruse
Postal code
 7017
Country
 Bulgaria
 (+359) (0)82 841 621
Phone
(+359) 887947700
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.uni-ruse.bg
As a result of the implementation of the project EcoBiz – “Ecologic Cross-Border Operations for a Business Integrated
Zone” under the Cross-border Programme Romania-Bulgaria in the period 2011-2012 two info points are created and
situated in the University of Ruse and the Ruse Municipality building in areas where many people pass by each day.
Specific consultancy activities have been developed by University of Ruse team helping start-up companies and existent
ones. Even after the project end the consultants are still available and service the info points. Project related materials have
been printed and handed out to interested visitors of the info points.
While servicing the info points the consultants from University of Ruse have been performing the following activities
helping the start-up companies in the agriculture sector:
 Handing out a catalogue with information about the activities of eco and organic companies in the region. The
catalogue is installed on info-kiosks to be available also in electronic format;
 Familiarizing the visitors of the info points in detail about - Eco business companies in the region and the
products they offer; “Green” houses and family hotels in the region that offer eco-tourism services; Specific
information in accordance with the interest shown by a particular visitor: organic agriculture: labels and logos
for organic products in Europe; EU Organic Logo; control and inspection of certified products; Discerning of
true organic products on the market; Eco labels for products and services in Europe; EU Ecolabel; Ecotourism,
Standards, quality criteria and requirements; QUALITOOL; Application procedure of the Bulgarian Association
for Alternative Tourism (BAAT) for awarding a Green Lodge Certificate;
 Developing business plans with ideas for starting “green” business in the region. Offering ten sample different
business plans than can be used as guidelines for writing own ones. Providing assistance of people and
companies on how to write own business plans in different fields;
 Providing GIS information about: Agriculture in the region; Areas with renewable resources potential;
Biodiversity and protected areas; Fishing; Human activities impact; Renewable resources; Biodiversity and
protected areas; Soils;
 Providing information for eco and organic producers in European countries in order to pursue international
cooperation and contacts;
 Providing information for organic and eco organizations, associations and foundations in which companies can
participate and make contacts with other companies in the field;
85

Providing information for Romanian eco and organic companies to carry out cross-border cooperation and
business;
 Providing the info point visitors with information on a given topic in electronic or printed form on request.
University of Ruse also organizes annually the fair EcoBiz, which is dedicated to bio products and ecological business
solutions, as well as a seminar entitled “How to ECOBIZ”, on which presentations on the advantages of eco business
and the methodology of developing an effective business plan for eco-business are made.
Alongside the establishment of the info point, University of Ruse has also organized the EcoBiz fair for bio products
and ecologic business solutions, which has took place in Ruse, Bulgaria, for the first time in 2012 and has its second edition
in 2013. Over 40 Bulgarian and Romanian companies dealing with ecologic production and services from the BG-RO
cross border area have participated at the fair. The EcoBiz fair took part within the framework of the traditional
agricultural machinery exhibition organized annually at the University of Ruse. The participants included producers of:
biological fertilizers and humus, plant and animal products, apiculture and herb products, fruits, vegetables and nuts,
companies for ecotourism, jewelry and accessories from natural, environmentally friendly materials, icons from natural
materials, producers of aronia berry wine, and meat products of ecologic and selected meat, etc. Other participants were
producers of natural food additives and sweeteners, natural soaps, manufacturers of briquettes and pellets from plant
waste. Companies for construction and maintenance of solar, heating and plumbing systems are also included in the
thematic fair.
University of Ruse has also issued a handbook with the 10 types of business plans.
The services offered by the EcoBiz info points of Ruse University are free of charge. The only exception is the
participation in the following editions of the EcoBiz fair, where participants have to pay for stand rent.
IT applications used - GIS information on the cross border area Bulgaria – Romania and electronic info kiosks providing
the information to interested parties.
In addition to the info services of the info point the following supplementary added value services are offered: 1) Annual
EcoBiz fair; 2) Seminars “How to EcoBiz”; 3) Regional strategies and programs for energy efficiency like the Association
Municipal Energy Agency - Ruse and the network of the European Commission in support of business and innovation
- the Enterprise Europe Network were attracted by Ruse University to provide support on environmental business
initiatives - during the EcoBiz fair and in providing consultancy services.
Economic resources
The project budget of Ruse University was € 67.000,00. No financial resources were foreseen for covering the
expenditures after the project end, but the info points still offer their services using the university resources.
Staff
The staff of the info point include five persons: 1) Team manager - manages the activities, monitors the quality and the
implementation of tasks; 2) PR and company relations - maintains permanent contacts with the companies, participating
at the fair, as well as with the companies and persons requesting information or consultancy; 3) IT specialist - maintains
the operation of info kiosks and their equipment; 4) Specialist - consultant - makes direct consultations to companies and
persons willing to start a business activity in agriculture, eco technologies, eco products, eco-tourism; and 5) Accountant.
86
Know-how
The consultants should be familiar with the specifics of the matter they are dealing with, be able to communicate with
companies, and help companies find the right solutions to the specific issues, with which companies have addressed the
info point. Ruse University has a long history of experience and knowledge excellence in agriculture. The eco business
encompasses numerous branches of economy and the info point being situated in the university, where specialists in
many fields can be found, contributes a lot the quality of consultations, especially regarding start-up companies in
agriculture.
Problems and barriers include: 1) Competition concerns and the wrong idea that universities are far from practice and
solving different problems businesses face in real; 2) There have also been pure technical problems like transporting the
heavy equipment of some machine building companies making machines for extraction of eco oils and production of
eco briquettes; 3) As the fair is organized in the open at the university campus, there were also concerns about the weather
- rain did not befriend to promotional materials, products and devices, which were presented at the stands; 4) The
university also expected that the info kiosks will be neglected by people passing-by, but this did not happen. People were
accepting them well, they were interested by them and often stopped to have a look at what is being offered.
Adopted measures include: 1) The issue with competition was solved by placing the stands of competitors away from
each other; 2) The university has provided forklift trucks and lifters for the heavy equipment, as well as special foundations,
on which the machines were place; 3) The pavilions were additionally secured against unfavorable weather conditions; 4)
The places of info kiosks and the fair pavilions were selected so that everyone who enters the university to be able to pass
by them.
The people working for the info point are university teachers and the work with their students has taught them to respond
in support of students’ wishes and problems even after they graduate and start working in companies. The project being
over does not mean that companies are not be invited again to the annual fair, nor people are rejected an advice or
consultancy, if they request such.
The aim of the EcoBiz project was to make rural areas more attractive through better accessibility and through the
creation of environment that insures the wellbeing of citizen, fostering innovation for services and competition,
internationalizing and modernizing the economy.
The outputs of the project have led to a real support of local business and private initiatives in building a pole of attraction
for investments and healthy business environment by assuring tools for a successful planning and start of ecological
businesses, and further facilitation of their development. Encouraging this particular sector the project aimed at
promoting and wide spreading of the EcoBiz concept and concern about sustainable development of businesses, as well
as at encouraging the bio-product consumption as daily choice for a large majority of the population.
The EcoBiz project has contributed to the improvement of productivity, competitiveness and innovation throughout the
country via a sustainable development framework, the main focus being on promoting skills and providing public services
to people and investors.
87



Over 35 companies and persons have used the services of the info point. The business plans were granted to
more than 20 persons, some of them being interested in more than one of the business plans. These numbers
do not include the companies and people that have asked for the contacts of the companies being presented at
the info kiosks;
The results of fair have surprised the organizers. It turned out that the demand for eco products and services is
significant. Interest in the products proposed by businesses has surprised even the companies themselves. Many
transactions were made, agreements and contacts were established. One of the company owners boasted that
during the fair he has made a contact with a company from Dubai;
There is no exact figure of the people who have used the info kiosks, but at least 10000 people daily pass along
the info kiosk at the university, most of whom are not students.
Fairs and exhibitions are a universal way for companies to make demonstration of their products, goods and services.
The placement of the fair and the info point in university environment gives the opportunity to access many young
customers. Thus, this good practice could be easily transferred not only to other places in Bulgaria, but also to other
countries.
Website of University of Ruse: http://www.uni-ruse.bg/index_en.php
Website of Rousse Specialized Exhibition of Agricultural Machinery and Automobiles. Eco-Biz Fair was part of
this exhibition: http://expo.uni-ruse.bg/en/index.html
88
CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE
AMERICAN FARM SCHOOL - PERROTIS COLLEGE
Presented by: ERFC
Name of
Company
the
 Center for Agricultural Entrepreneurship
Type
Company
of
 Privately owned educational institute
Address
City and Region
12 Μ. Αntypa str., P. O. Box 23 Postal code
 Thessaloniki
 55102
Country
 Greece
 (+30) 2310492860
Phone
(+30) 2310492829 / 856
Fax
E-mail
[email protected]
Website
http://www.afs.edu.gr/page/default.a
sp?id=43&la=2
The American Farm School of Thessaloniki, Greece, is an independent, nonprofit educational institution founded in
1904 to serve the needs of Greece and the surrounding Balkan areas. It was originally founded in 1904 on 50 acres of
barren land near Thessaloniki. American Farm School offers certified formal and non-formal education to support
sustainability in rural areas through enhancement of personal development and entrepreneurship. The Center for
Agricultural Entrepreneurship (CAE) was established in September 2012 by the American Farm School & Perrotis
College. The aim is to promote and support new business ideas from individuals who seek to develop sustainable careers
chiefly, but not exclusively, in the fields of production, processing and distribution of high quality agricultural products.
Participants learn to follow modern and efficient practices that are environmentally friendly and utilize local natural
resources. CAE also provides counseling and incubates actions leading to business plans to be developed into
entrepreneurial activities, supporting promising business proposals through mentoring and networking.
 Program Duration - The program is divided into two cycles. Cycle I consists of three compulsory courses lasting
one academic semester, i.e., 12 weeks. Each course offers up to 105 contact hours and concentrates on
entrepreneurship, business start-up, management, or production. Cycle II, called the Incubator, and consists of
cluster-based consultancy services of at least five meetings of two hours each;
 Beneficiary breakdown.
2010-13 total number of participants: 1.056 (45% women); Average age: 33.4 years; Educational status: 57% university
graduates; Distribution: Approximately 58% Thessaloniki metropolitan area.
The American Farm School offers continuing professional training and adult education programs, lectures, conferences,
exchange programs and study visits on topics related to the agrifood sector, the environment, rural tourism, culture,
agribusiness, information technology and education.
Entrepreneurship Program Description
 Cycle I, Compulsory Courses
1. Development of Entrepreneurial Thinking - The aim of this course is for students to familiarize themselves
with the basic principles of product acceptance by consumers, and to develop production and marketing
knowledge for a successful product. More specifically: understand the market principles of product
89
acceptance in the agrifood industry; learn their individual and business competitive advantages, and how
these are interpreted in making decisions about product design and markets; design the structure of their
business from the bottom up;
2. Startup and Management of SMEs - The aim of this course is to introduce students to the principles and
functionality of new SMEs in the agrifood sector. The course focuses on the most important aspects of a
business plan, strategy development, financial flow and operational efficiency. More specifically: learn the
procedures of how to establish their business; become able to set their first strategic goal; understand the
basic entities constituting their business and their relationships; become able to design a detailed outline of
a business plan; and how to monitor the progress of their business based on financial index;
3. Agricultural Production Course - Participants choose one of the Learning for Life adult education courses
offered in the fall or spring semesters, such as Cheese making; Viticulture; Olive Culture; Beekeeping;
Cultivation of Aromatic Plants, Organic Farming, Snail Farming, Mushroom Cultivation, etc.
 Cycle 2, Incubator
Consultancy and mentoring services provided to clusters of individuals towards the development and
implementation of business plans enterprises in the agrifood sector.
1. Consultancy to establish a business. Indicatively, this covers issues such as selection of a legal form, design
decisions and standardization of products, production line, design decisions and purchase of production
equipment, licensing facilities, promotion and distribution channels, etc. This category also includes the
creation of a firm business plan addressed to those confident in submitting it for funding. CAE approaches
candidate benefactors, who vary depending on the nature of the proposal and the type of the sponsorship;
2. Consultancy on the first phase of business operation. New businesses are particularly vulnerable at the
beginning, therefore CAE offers ongoing stakeholder advisory services on problem solving in the areas of
production issues, personnel selection, the administration of operational issues, monitoring and reviewing
budgets, control creditability, participation in trade fairs, organization of exports, etc.





Educational & Demonstration Farm - The educational farm is used in order to provide practical knowledge especially
in Cycle I, Course 3. Additionally, it is used as a test bed for applied research for existing enterprises by exploiting
contemporary technologies and native plants for value added products. Its area is 145.6 hectares and hosts both
animal (Milk, animal genetic material – offspring, eggs ω-3, turkeys) & plant productions;
Mentoring Services & Consultancy - These advisory services are offered on the campus of the American Farm
School and Perrotis College or on the site of selected enterprises in the vicinity;
Networking - Networking activities include Southeast Europe countries, selected Greek entrepreneurs and
organizations and selected US and European Universities;
Price of service - The price for attending the entrepreneurship program is € 650 for Cycle I connected to 3 seminars
of total 105 teaching h (Entrepreneurial Thinking, Startup and management of SMEs in the agrifood sector and the
technical seminar (one of 27 topics available that relate to the agrifood sector) e.g.: apiculture, or viticulture, aromatic
plants, etc., and 1650 for Cycle II that is related to Incubation leading to BPs.
Prerequisites - Beneficiaries eligible to apply to CAE include individuals from Greece and neighboring countries with
at least high school education. No prior professional experience is required of those who enroll.

Vertical production of added valued products (dairy, poultry, horticulture, fresh farm products). It allows for
testing of novel technologies in the field of agriculture and for application of relevant business processes.
Consequently, participating individuals and supported SMEs receive proven know-how on both production and
entrepreneurial levels;
90


Investments in HR & contemporary technology know-how. The center collaborates with highly qualified
personnel and applies state of the art technologies. A core of dedicated, highly qualified and caring full-time
instructors, along with a part-time staff made up of professionals from food industry, agribusiness, farming,
horticulture, livestock management and other fields, is responsible for providing services to the program
participants and SMEs;
Collaboration with organizations. Partnerships & collaborations with other higher educational institutions, as
well as with businesses, corporations, farms, government and non-governmental agencies, research institutes,
and other types of organizations enable the provision of numerous benefits to the center’s participants.
The diversified Demonstration and Educational Farm is at the heart of an American Farm School education and provides
added value to the offered training courses. The Farm is a living laboratory where students of all ages undertake practical
training in agricultural production, animal husbandry, agribusiness, and natural resource management. Each year
thousands of farmers, schoolchildren, university students and other visitors enjoy the opportunity to observe, participate
and learn. The Farm is divided into Dairy, Poultry and Horticulture departments. The Dairy unit’s purebred Holstein herd
has been the industry leader in productivity and quality of milk continuously since 1935, when the School first introduced
pasteurized milk to Greece. The Poultry unit uses the latest scientific methods to produce and market Omega-3 and
standard eggs, turkeys, broilers and day-old chicks. The Horticulture unit includes greenhouses and nursery; a vineyard
and winery; olive trees; and extensive experimental and other field crops both on the campus farm and at the satellite
Zannas Farm, located to the west of Thessaloniki near the Axios River.
Economic resources
The operational cost of the Center for Agricultural Entrepreneurship is partly covered by the tuition fee of the
participants and partly by other income sources of the American Farm School. The latter are based upon revenues from
the sale of the Farm’s premium dairy, poultry and horticulture products and a financial aid program, as well as the
provisions of benefactors.
Staff
The academic staff of the Center for Agricultural Entrepreneurship includes: Lawyers, food technologists and production
engineers, agronomists and agro-economists, export experts, engineers on informatics and mentors from the business
world.
Know-how
A faculty exchange program is in place, helping constant update of know-how.
Obstacles & SUCCESS FACTORS
No obstacles have been encountered.
Main factors that justify and at the same time facilitate service provision are:
 Overall scientific progress in the agricultural sector;
 Simplification of the technology and easy access to it;
91


Influx of inhabitants in rural areas that show interest in entrepreneurial aspect of agriculture;
General requirement for sustainable resource exploitation and environmental awareness.
Currently, the offered services mainly focus on the agrifood sector using science & technology in order to realize the
model “From Farm to Fork”. Specifically, current demand is for improving primary farm production, applying
standardization methods, improve processing and quality assurance, and enhance product promotion, transportation and
marketing strategies. Nevertheless, the sector’s future will use science and technology at cell level in order to realize the
model “From Fork to Farm” i.e. to optimize the production of farm products in order to satisfy special needs of the
population. Consequently, every service provider will have to adjust to this upcoming model.
Some results of offered services are the following:
 Special case study
KAZAKIS L.T.D. - Chalkidiki: agrifood SME, vertically oriented for the production of processed traditional Greek
food. Business support in this case focused on cultivation and product certification procedures, advice on product
marketing to either domestic, or international markets, networking with chamber of exporting-SEVE, chamber of
commerce, supermarket chains, and various other relevant to production and marketing organizations for reaching
out consumers’ selves;
 Other case studies
Lydia’s Garden - Thessaloniki: Production and marketing of native plants and products based on oil extracts;
Vasili Garitsis - Chalkidiki: Sheep milk and feta producer;
Maria - Kozani: Produces and markets oil extracts from roses;
Bio-Terra organic farm - Aghios Athanasios: Produces and markets organic eggs, native aromatics, honey, deli foods
for the local market;
Abraham Liaretidis - Hilanthos farms in Vasilika: Aromatic plants for the local market.
Cooperation with international educational entities, as mentioned above is the channel for transferring the good practice
to other countries.
http://www.afs.edu.gr/files/02_pdf/KAE_%202013_AmChamBizPartners.pdf
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/9998013/Yiannis-Boutaris-Greeces-vision-ofhope.html
http://www.afs.edu.gr/page/default.asp?id=2812&la=2
http://www.afs.edu.gr/page/default.asp?id=43&la=2
92
LUGONEXTLAB NEW OPPORTUNITY TO DEVELOP YOUR
PROJECTS AND ENTER A BUSINESS
Name of
Company
the
 LugoNextLab
Type
Company
of
 Ltd.
Address
City and Region
Via Magnapassi, 8
 Lugo (RA)/Emilia Romagna
Postal code
 48022
Country
 Italy

Phone
(+39) 054520197
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.lugonextlab.eu
LugoNextLab Ltd. was set up in Lugo (Northern Italy) in 2009. Its origin from the aggregation of three important entities:
the scientific foundation Fantini Orselli; private investors and the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio e Banca del Monte di
Lugo.
LugoNextLab has the purpose of guiding the user through new opportunities, to develop a project and enter into a
business.
Their slogan is “Make your innovative ideas come true”.

LugoNextLab help the young entrepreneurs to perfect their business ideas and quickly find the best way to
concretize them through the complex network of local and international partnerships they can provide;
 The head office is a kind of experimental and creative yard that aggregates knowledge;
 The Lab is an incubator that incentives the birth of new hi-tech enterprises, with local roots and global network
at the same time;
 The Lab is able to implement, if the proposer so requires, a business unit dedicated to his project of which he
becomes responsible;
 LugoNextLab organizes workshops, meetings to discuss science progress and which are the fields that offer the
greatest potentiality, and also organize work teams among people who share similar pursuits.
LugoNextLab mission is:
 To encourage the development of innovative ideas;
 To promote the dissemination and market entry;
 To create competitive and Hi-Tech products;
 To be the connecting link between all the subjects, like institutions, universities, entrepreneurship, venture
capitalists, banks, and European and international research laboratories.
LugoNextLab respects the principle of equal opportunities and the services is free.
The services of project evaluation and feasibility study are free of charge.
93
At the time the project is profitable, LugoNextLab requires the signature of a royalty agreement contract.
Every idea will be seriously taken into account and valued in an objective and rigorous way by a group of independent
experts that do not work at LugoNextLab.
An on-line free form for include the idea in a database that will be evaluated by independent experts group.
The best projects will be promoted to the executive step, starting from the search of loan funds through the LugoNextLab
network.
The role of “start-up network” that connect all the subjects, like institutions, universities, entrepreneurship, venture
capitalists, banks, and European and international research laboratories to make true an innovative idea.
Economic resources
LugoNextLab has a very light structure where the staff is already an entrepreneurial self-perpetuating with expense
reimbursements and percentages on the projects turned out well. All this, together with the benefits offered to investors,
leads to an annual sum of € 100.000,00 management.
In the face of this expenditure the results are manifold and range from the acquisition of regional tenders to develop
start-up to the production of new products placed on the market, leading to the emergence of small and medium-sized
high-tech companies with local roots and network global sales. The relationship between the resources used and the
results obtained is 1 to 5.
Staff






Melandri Giacomo, President;
Poggiali Igino, Director General;
Annalisa Antonellini, Administration;
Gianluca Grilli, Information system and web;
Geminio Zaccherini, Coordination analysis and implementation of the projects;
Palmieri Luca, Lawyer.
Know-how
University know-how.
The major obstacles for the perfect development of the LugoNextLab is the Italian economic situation where investors
are not very motivated to invest in a start-up, unless in the case of very high probability of success.
To overcome this obstacle, LugoNextLab decided to “adopt” the winning projects making them a true business,
accompanying entrepreneurs up to the realization of their dreams.
94
The LugoNextLab is the link between institutions, entrepreneurs, banking institutions, research (Universities, research
centers in Europe and worldwide).
LugoNextLab has developed more than a thousand domestic and foreign contacts, consisting of a large team of experts
from many disciplines for the evaluation of projects: 54 projects evaluated by performing, 8 projects under development
of which 3 have already turned into products on the marketplace.
Starting from 2012 LugoNextLab is part of the network “Emilia-Romagna Start-up”.
Start-up network is the set of subjects and tools that facilitate the creation and growth of innovative start-ups in Emilia
Romagna. Promotes the first portal dedicated to the creation of innovative enterprise and supporting young people and
their self-employment.
The Start-up that have been created “Emilia-Romagna Start-up” are currently 267.
Maybe all:
 The data base, the form and the selection of the best projects;
 The role of “start-up network” that connect all the subjects, like institutions, universities, entrepreneurship,
venture capitalists, banks, and European and international research laboratories to make true an innovative
idea.
95
Section
5
Effective support approaches to assess on
entering new markets, meeting European quality
standard, promotion of products and facilitate
the internationalization of SMEs
WORKSHOP 5
Bulgaria, 11-12-13 November 2013
Name
Who generated
Quality assurance for small food producers (GLK) in the
framework of the Project “Food Safety for South East
Europe 2012 – 2013”
Balkan Net
Strategic Export Concept
Fooditerranean PC
Exportgate.gr
Eurobank Ergasias S.A.
Go International Initiative
Matching 2.0 – The value of a meeting
CDO.net Srl
CDO: Compagnia delle Opere
National Export Portal Bulgaria (NEPBG)
Bulgarian Small and Medium
Enterprises Promotion Agency
(BSMEPA)
Regional/National animal identification and traceability
(cattle, sheep, lamb, goats) in Albania – ICT Platform
Livestock Association “Ionian”
96
Quality Assurance for Small Food Producers (GLK) in the Framework of the
Project “Food Safety for South East Europe 2012 – 2013”
Presented by: FFRM
Name of
Company
the
 Balkan Net
Type
Company
of
 International Foundation
Address
City and Region
N. Kljusev (former Maksim Postal code
Gorki) 16
 Skopje
 1000
Country
 Former Yugoslav
Macedonia
Fax
 (+389) 23298535
Phone
(+389) 75219359
(+389) 23298535
E-mail
[email protected] Website
Republic
of
www.balkannet.eu
In the framework of the programs for 2012 and 2013 in the region of south-east Europe, the international foundation
Balkan Net with financial and technical support of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
GmbH, in close cooperation with its partner the Michel Institute from Germany and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce
implemented the project “Food Safety in south-east Europe 2012 – 2013”.
Project aim is to improve the conditions in the operations and enable sustainable development of small/medium food
producers by introducing and implementing specific tailored/customized food safety standards for their needs, which
they can afford.
During the implementation of the project steps in 2012 it was acknowledged that for better performance in food safety
and order to enhance product quality, it is necessary to enable and support new entries for small/medium traditional and
organic food producers to the retail markets. Thus, through the implementation of capacity building measures and
training of food safety auditors, the project shall offer new opportunities to secure a safe food production in the region
and boost local economies.
The project applies a combination of theoretical approaches and practice-oriented training events to meet the demands
of the target groups.
The project activities included the following concrete actions:
 Create and apply particularly tailored food safety standards for small/medium food producers, namely GLK,
quality assurance for small food producers;
 Establish and run a round table with international retailers (e.g. Carrefour, Spar, Lidl, Aldi, Metro, etc.) and
representatives from the small and medium sized enterprises (SME);
 Implementation of audits to small and medium sized companies;
 Strengthen institutional knowledge to governing and implementing food safety regulations;
 Generate best practice in implementing food safety standards in the participating companies;
97


Enhance a network the stakeholders for exchange of experience and know-how;
Promote supplier agreements from the retailer to the SMEs to enable delivery to the retailers (so called: door
opener);
 Create a pilot group of food producers (approx. 30 SMEs) in the region;
 Implement food safety in accordance with food safety standards for small/medium food safety producers;
 Promote certifications from MI for the SME Standard (companies receive certification as regional producers of
safety food);
 Further support and promote the variety of consumption of local food products in the region;
 Facilitate deliveries from SMEs to retailers;
 Execute project evaluation measures and propose further measures;
 Enable project application throughout the region and promote local food specialties;
 Maintain contacts with appropriate German institutions, associations, chambers and the like for transfer of
applicable know-how from practitioners;
 Further strengthening of the Balkan Net network by creating and supporting a core group of local food safety
experts from the involved countries (6-8 people) who can assure sustainability and deliver the expertise in
coordination and cooperation with the experts from MI. In doing so the regional competence of Balkan Net
shall gain ground;
 Update and create a food safety section on the existing website of Balkan Net to be used as a compilation of
safety standards, model applications and for exchange of experiences;
 Draft and implement a study trip to Germany aiming at exchange of experiences in German companies and
organize B2B meetings with selected industries;
 In the framework of the project activities, food safety auditors from the region have been encouraged to apply
for participation during the process of auditing of interested companies which is a further capacity building
component of this project;
 The following production branches have been covered: Small bakeries, small companies for production and
processing of meat, producers of canned fruits and vegetables, producers of dry fruits and vegetables, bee
keepers and producers of honey, producers of mushrooms, producers of different kinds of tea and herbalists,
producers of spices from vegetables and fruits.
The results of the four individual events (April, May, June and September 2014) are further described on the project links
bellow.
The GLK (Quality assurance for small food producers) standard is tailor-made and adapted system to the needs of small
and medium sized companies and provides them with innovative solutions for implementing and maintaining food safety
in their every-day operations. Particularly important is the fact that the standard is very easily applicable and contains all
elements of HACCP, however much easier adaptable, not at all complicated and fully understandable and implementable
for the target group.
Customized audit wording, no academic phrases, concretization of legal requirements for production and logistics,
customized, efficient and practical documentation during operation, certification is essential for the acceptance of or
maintaining a supplier relationship with retailers.
98
Economic resources
The project is financially supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit - GIZ (GmbH)
from Germany, whereas the international foundation Balkan Net acts as regional coordinator, provides the local food
safety expertise, organization and logistics, implements the project measures and is directly supported with approx
40.000,00 euro in 2013.
Staff
The project measures are coordinated in the premises on Balkan Net in Skopje and implemented in Serbia, Macedonia,
Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Albania with a total of 13 staff members and experts.
Know-how
Food safety auditors have been trained within 4 workshops between April and September 2013. During the training
Balkan Net staff members who are directly involved in the project implementation participated as well. Small food
producers also participated on these events and their received permanent support during measure implementation.


Insufficient interest of the relevant institutions to cooperate;
Insufficient interest of the major retailers to get involved in the project.
Establish and run a round table with international retailers (e.g. Carrefour, Spar, Lidl, Aldi, Metro, etc.) and representatives
from the small and medium sized enterprises (SME).
The region has huge potential in producing of healthy, organic and traditional food products both from animal and
vegetable origin. By the implementation of this project, small food producers receive a tool for implementing food safety
on site, which by getting the GLK certificate creates opportunities for them to increase the safety and quality of their
products, gain new market potential and contribute to overall economic success of the region of south east Europe.
Small food producers from all countries in the region acknowledged the efforts of the project team and evaluated the
implemented measures as very successful.
The interest in the project participation of the small food producers in the region was huge. Over 50 companies initially
applied. Due to careful selection of the auditors and the companies, there were no knowledge barriers identified during
the measure implementation. No other obstacles or difficulties occurred.
The needs of small food producers have been identified during the implementation of the project measures in 2012. At
the beginning of 2013 a project concept was created by both partners Michel Institute and Balkan Net and financial
support by the GIZ was requested. Upon approval by the GIZ, the implementation of the project measures started in
March 2013.
99
The project is tailored according to the demands expressed by the companies and institutions and the recommendations
given by the core group of experts during the first regional workshop – the training of trainers that took place during
one event in 2011 and throughout the project measures in 2012.
In general, all envisaged results have been achieved with utmost attention. Currently, 10 small companies have passed the
audit; further 20 will have to be audited in October and November 2013. Good practice and the awareness about food
safety in the region have been raised to an acceptable level, the public has been informed about the benefits of the project
and small food producers are getting engaged more and more in the process.
Already is implemented in three countries on three language (Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo).
GLK costs are much lower than comparable standards.
GLK is accepted standard from several international retailers.
Existing network of auditors and experts.
Project activities are permanently updated on the website of Balkan Net. For the report on the project activities
until July 2013, incl. photographs and other relevant documents, please refer to the following link:
http://www.lazoroski.com/balkannet/index.php/component/tinydoc/document/131?format=raw
For further project information, project description in English and in the local languages as well as necessary
documents, please go to the following link:
http://www.lazoroski.com/balkannet/index.php/food-safety
100
STRATEGIC EXPORT CONCEPT
Name of
Company
the
 Fooditerranean PC
Type
Company
of
 Privet Capital
Address
Polichroni Polichronidi 29
 Chania
City and Region
Postal code
 73100
Country
 Greece

Phone
(+30) 6977539844
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.fooditerranean.com
Fooditerranean was a project since January of 2011 while recently it was change to the Fooditerranean P.C. It works with
Greek producers to promote and brand food products. The company designs and implements export strategies to assist
those SMEs agri-businesses market and business development.
Participant SMEs develops agri-businesses by designing and assisting throughout the strategic export process, suggested
by Fooditerranean. In more details:
 A thorough study and internal analysis of the company, the products and the commercial environment;
 Building brand identity for the products. Identifying and designing the appropriate brand touch points in order
to communicate the brand (feelings and personality) more effectively;
 Design an appropriate export strategy. This includes any actions from the goal setting up to the implementation
of the action plan;
 New market approach. The method here is the target market selection among 4-5 countries. After the market
selection a decision is taken on the most appropriate;
 Product establishment/market development.
Beneficiaries. Agrifood producers and businesses, specialized professionals, importers, consumers.
i) Involving a number of specialized professionals; ii) Offering more efficient market approach for S/M businesses by
achieving economies of scales; iii) The practice is based on sustainable strategies and not on temporary sales; iv) Building
brands and supporting their development. Like this the added value returns to the supported agri-business; v) Educate
and creating awareness to both producers and consumers; vi) Adapting some strategic practices, which are exercised by
multinationals, to SMEs.
i) The whole concept is based on added value services; ii) The management of an agri-business coop can lower the cost
and give more opportunities to S/M businesses enter in new markets; iii) The agro-products are lunched as branded food
products. The added value spreads out to all involved stakeholders.
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Economic resources





N/A The total cost of the service depends on the project. Pricing policy involves these stages:
o Prepayment 30%; During the project 30%; By the delivery of the project 40%; For export projects
company signs a 6 months contract (minimum) and gets paid at the end of every month by delivering
the prescheduled monthly report;
Commission on sales may be included upon agreement;
Other economic resources are coming mainly from other projects;
No product should be offered without reward. It is important to have a business committed to the project. They
used to receive services as reward. Today, this policy has been almost abandoned;
Fooditerranean’s policy is to provide services which the benefits for the business excel the demanded cost, adding
value to the product. As benefits should be considered not only the actions that boost sales or increase interest
but also the potential cost derived from the luck of the services.
Staff
The founders:
 Mr. George Gkekas | Brand & Business Development; Mrs. Eleni Foudoulaki | Journalist; Mr. Gkekas works
as Business Development Manager and is responsible to coordinate and carry out the projects.
Know-how
Qualifications:
 George Gkekas: Bachelor BA, MSc International Business Development, Diploma: Export Manager;
Dissertations: International Management, Brand awareness & development; More than 15 years of academic
and professional experience in commercial departments and businesses. Working for both multinational
enterprises and SMEs in Greece, France and UK; Company choose partner considering their professional
qualifications, their commitment to Fooditerranean vision and their specialization on agrifood industry and/or
the global markets;
 Other stuff: a number of specialized professionals can be involved in an export project. They are involved ad
hoc depending on the needs of the project;
 For better results SMEs should: Have long term commitment and persistence to the scheduled goals; Invest on
time and money; Have a legal form to perform international commercial activities; Have basic equipment for
digital communication (e.g. e-mail, Skype account); Have basic certifications meeting international food
standards (e.g. ISO, HAACP).
Technical: Communication problems. Due to specific communication culture and language which is necessary to use in
order to get message across. Approach problems due to fragmented distribution and the great number of the Greek food
businesses.
Legal: Impossible to act without a legal form
Cultural: SMEs are not aware of the importance of a strategic export approach. For this reason they are not committed
to such projects, but they are looking for more transient solutions.
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Financial: Lack of capital for both Fooditerranean and agri-businesses.
Knowledge: Strategic export requires deep knowledge and contact in global markets. Miscellaneous specialized
professionals are needed to participate.
Bureaucracy: Bureaucracy in Greece costs in time and opportunities. Dealing with the state means lots of time-consuming
procedures and overcome formal complexity.
Technical: Use social media and digital communication. Interacting with the producers and adapt to their life style and
communication.
Legal: Set up Fooditerranean PC.
Cultural: Creating awareness via specialized seminars, conferences, Interviews, mentoring speeches and publishing activity.
Financial: Privet capital, exchange services, cooperative activities, minimizing cost.
Knowledge: Developing a business-professional network.
Bureaucracy: Minimizing the interaction with the state and dealing with open minded entrepreneurs who can make smart
decisions.
More and more young educated people are attracted by agriculture; Established agricultural businesses are striving to
become more extroversive; EU funds agriculture and young entrepreneurs; Greek government boosts business
extroversion.
Late in 2010, Fooditerranean project was a personal initiative business development concept. The project initially, aimed
to create awareness about the culture of Greek food products. At the same time Fooditerranean was introducing the
strategic export concept conducting online surveys, mentoring speeches and writing articles. Recently Fooditerranean has
created a brand identity for a new entry EVOO. Today Fooditerranean is ready to develop all the necessary tools to
implement the Strategic Export Concept.
The direct beneficiaries of this practice are principally the SMEs in the agrifood sector. Their main characteristics usually
are: Export orientation; Professional business culture; New management style; Capability to invest on the export process;
Traditional food makers; Quality branded or non-branded products; Business looking for new ways to develop their
markets.
Methods of evaluation (for the service): On time deliveries. A monthly plan with the expected countable results, which
are delivered at the end on the month; The degree of successful professional and cultural coordination; The complement
of the services in terms of the project’s demands; The first feedback from the market; The value for money benefits.
Here consider the potential cost services’ lack.
Results obtained (for the beneficiary): Obtain a complete commercial definition of the product, business and industry.
Including potentials, opportunities, threats, strengths, weaknesses, along with the suggestions to deal with them; determine
a brand identity. This helps, among others, to communicate the brand and identify the correct niche market; Build strong
relationships with both buyers and consumers.
Service process development:
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1. Preliminary stage. Company/product study and analysis. Research and identify the SWOT factors;
2. Planning. Fooditerranean plan in terms of time, budget, and professionals’ involvement. Activities are scheduled
and goals are set;
3. Research. The competition and the culture. Target a niche market;
4. Create the brand identity. Define the brand elements and design brand touch points. Meetings and interaction
with the stakeholders in the project. Methods: brainstorming and share documents;
5. Implement and display the identified brand. Web design and content, packaging design;
6. Follow up. Gave recommendations and proposed corrective activities.
Fooditerranean can transfer both methods and results:
 Methods: The involvement of specialized professionals. Fooditerranean is creating an online data base. Selected
professionals can present their profile and their added value offer in an export process. Producers or other
stakeholders can select specialized professionals who can add value on their products. This practice can be
developed nationally or even internationally. Local organizations which are able to coordinate an export process
should attract and utilize these professionals;
 Cooperation model (cluster): Fooditerranean is highly support the idea of the cooperation among S/M agribusinesses while trying to create appropriate tools and environment to flourish. At commercial level, regional
producers should be acting cooperatively. Fooditerranean can offer expertise and professional network acting as
an auxiliary business tool;
 Awareness: Fooditerranean has already conducted targeted campaigns aiming to Greek food awareness. Surely
much more in terms of quality and quantity must be done.
Surveys: Fooditerranean conducted several surveys concerning the food industry. The results have been published on
www.fooditerranean.com .
Case studies: The SWOT analysis along with the recommendations will be published free only for members.
Information: Exclusive information about markets overseas, export procedures and food industry trends will be available
for members (pending).
Useful links: http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/p/links.html
About: http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/p/about-this-blog.html
Concept: http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/p/concept.html
Community (social media): http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/p/team.html
Contacts: http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/p/communicate.html
Food stories (personal stories about food):
http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/search/label/Food%20Stories
Ancient Greece (& food):
http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/search/label/Ancient%20Greece
Food & Culture: http://www.fooditerraneanproject.com/search/label/Culture
104
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EXPORTGATE.GR
Presented by: ERFC
Name of
Company
the
 Eurobank Ergasias S.A. – Go International Initiative
Type
Company
of
 Bank institute
Address
City and Region
16, Laodikeias & 1-3 Nymfaiou Postal code
str.
 AthensAttica
 11528
Country
 Greece
 (+30) 2106078110 /28110
Phone
(+30) 2106078122 /28122
Fax
E-mail

Website
www.eurobank.gr/online/home
http://go-international.gr
In an effort to strengthen multilateral trade between Greek businesses and their International counterparts, EUROBANK,
has initiated Exportgate.gr, in cooperation with the Panhellenic Exporters Association (PSE), the Greek International
Business Association (SEVE), the Exporters Association of Crete (EAC), SEV Hellenic Federation of Enterprises and
the main bilateral chambers of commerce in Greece. The initiative is under the auspices of the Ministry for Development
Competitiveness Infrastructure Transport & Networks. The new innovative business to business Web Portal,
Exportgate.gr, enables networking among its members and provides users with access to many innovative features
offering user - friendly tools and resources for industry analysis, supporting trade development and facilitating transactions
between Greek exporting businesses and their counterparts from all over the world. The portal integrates international
best practices and goes beyond product directories, providing advanced communication tools for its members (e-Forums,
Communities, Podcasts, e-Exhibitions, etc.) and “live” trade related content from leading business agencies. Exportgate.gr
is fully operational since January 2013 and it targets to SMEs which aim to export their products to 180 countries, promote
their companies internationally and need access to export documents & regulations.
SMEs may be active in any production and commercial sector, but Exportgate has attracted particular attention from
SMEs of the Agriculture (Honey, Olive oil, Olives, Yoghurt, Vegetables, Mastic and other agricultural companies) and
Food & Fruit & Drinks (Feta, Wine, Pasta, Ouzo, Kiwi fruits, etc.) sectors.
Offered services include:
 Networking - The portal provides opportunities for the creation of global business networks with the other
portal members in order to identify the ideal business partners. Through Exportgate.gr SME’s gain access to
collective and updated Directories of over 1000 Greek exporters, more than 6.500 International trading
companies and Business facilitators and use the latest networking tools to evaluate business propositions.
Additionally, they can exchange ideas through creating and participating in the portal’s Business Forums and
Communities;
 Promotion - Creation of own online mini website, participation in Virtual exhibitions, creation of own
company’s Success story & presentation of products/services to the world;
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
Access to market research & trade related information – Exportgate’s electronic library offers the largest
database of local and international reports for countries of interest, market and sector analyses, trade compliance
documentation, and a comprehensive range of tools to estimate customs expenses, provided by internationally
recognized providers. More than 25000 industry reports from 185 countries and over 10000 pages of content
on International Trade issues are available on the spot, accurately and at no cost. Furthermore, benefit from
accessing Exportgate’s extensive business directories of more than 25000 importers in USA, China, India, Brazil
and Latin America;
 Consultation - The innovative “Ask the Experts” team will provide support on trade issues related to
imports/exports, required documentation, procedures and trade finance, and enrich the SME’s know-how on
international trading. Additionally, consultation is provided through the utilization of the portal’s tutorials &
webinars on trade strategy topics and considerations;
 e-Services - Greek exporters have access to Eurobank’s innovative e-Services for Trade Finance, Factoring &
Payments while International trading companies can participate in interactive e-Auctions, thus facilitating trade
transactions, with new partners through the portal.
Participating Companies:
 Over 1000 Greek Exporters;
 Over 6.500 International companies;
 Access to a list of over 25000 companies from U.S.A, Brazil, India, China, etc.
Extensive content:
 Over 25000 sector reports & country reports/data for 170 countries;
 Data for over 30000 International Trade Exhibitions & 4000 Business Associations.
The offered services are provided for free. The SME must have a basic understanding of import/export processes.
Innovative tools incorporated in the portal are the following:
 e-Forums, Communities, Podcasts;
 e-Auctions;
 Online mini website for SMEs;
 Virtual exhibitions;
 Products/Services presentation;
 e-library of local and international reports for countries of interest, market and sector analyses, trade compliance
documentation, etc.;
 “Ask the Experts” team providing support;
 Eurobank’s innovative e-Services for Trade Finance, Factoring & Payments.
EXPORTGATE.GR is supported by Go International initiative. “Go International” is an Economic Cooperation
Programme which aims to enhance multilateral trade in the wider region of Central, Southeastern Europe & the Eastern
Mediterranean. The Programme is structured in a series of events, each of which includes a networking framework
(Partenariat format on a B2B basis) for bilateral or multilateral business meetings focused on the conclusion of business
and trade agreements and a Business Forum. The 4th Business Delegation of the Go International programme, which
was held on May 27 & 28, 2013, in Moscow, was successfully concluded, with more than 1,800 bilateral business meetings
107
between 90 Greek and 230 Russian enterprises from 13 sectors of the economy. Previous delegations were at Cyprus 78/02/2011 (approx. 1000 B2B meetings), Serbia 24-25/10/2011 (approx. 1850 B2B meetings), Romania 11/06/2012
(approx. 1450 B2B meetings).
A total of over 6.250 business meetings have taken place, between over 750 participating companies, from 16 countries,
and 356 Greek exporting companies in the 4 Business Delegations and Forums organized so far.
EXPORTGATE.GR participants have access to the organized delegations and the resources acquired during them.
Other added value elements are the following:
 Access to numerous companies, potentially business partners (1000 Greek Exporters, over 6.500 International
companies, lists of over 25000 companies from non EU countries);
 Access to extensive content (25000 sector reports & country reports/data for 170 countries, over 30000
International Trade Exhibitions & 4000 Business Associations);
 Special electronic tools (Mini websites, Virtual exhibitions, e-Forums, e-Auctions, e-library, financial e-services).
Economic resources
The services offered by EXPORTGATE.GR are free for the SMEs. The participation cost in the “Go International”
delegations and the B2B meetings is covered by the interested SMEs.
The operation of both the EXPORTGATE.GR & the “Go International” are financed by the participating actors:
EUROBANK, Panhellenic Exporters Association (PSE), Greek International Business Association (SEVE), Exporters
Association of Crete (EAC), Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and the main bilateral chambers of commerce in
Greece.
Staff
EXPORTGATE staff consists of scientific personnel of different fields (banking, finance, exports/imports, IT). Total
number is >100 people derived from EUROBANK but there are also supporting entities offered by the rest of the
participants (PSE, SEVE, EAC, SEV).
Know-how
The involved personnel offering the services, is experienced staff of Eurobank and the supporting organizations, which
follow the training schemes of their own organizations in order to be updated. Nevertheless, the nature of the offered
services is mostly related to banking and legal aspects of imports/exports and thus everyday practice and communication
with all involved actors is more important than training.
Information needed by EXPORTGATE is requested from the SME via a web form and mainly focuses on SME
description (sector of activity, product category, etc.). At a second level personalized meetings are performed if necessary.
No obstacles have been faced due to the effective collaboration of expert actors such as EUROBANK, Panhellenic
Exporters Association (PSE), Greek International Business Association (SEVE), Exporters Association of Crete (EAC),
Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and the main bilateral chambers of commerce in Greece.
Main success factors are the following:
 The participation of the main export associations PSE, SEVE, EAC;
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 The participation of the main industrial representative of Greece SEV;
 The support of a financial institution EUROBANK;
 The extroversion orientation of Greek SMEs.
There are numerous success stories of SMEs that achieved wider international market shares through Exportgate.gr.
Some indicative are the following:
 Chipita S.A.- Coco-Mat - Alfa Pastry - Fereikos Helix - Pyramis Metallourgia A.E. - Foodrinco - Sail in Greek
Waters - Olympia Electronics - Epsa - Symphonia.
Economic analysts have repeatedly stated that in order to provide a significant boost to national economy it is necessary
to support exports of Greek products and in general to strengthen all the links that constitute the chain of extroversion
and include extroversion actors, supporting governmental structures and financial institutions. Unfortunately, today a
Greek SME needs approximately 19 days to complete an export, when the EU average is 10 days. From these 19 days,
14 are consumed to bureaucracy between the three involved groups of stakeholders: export firms, financial institutions
and governmental structures. These issues were the main driving factors for constituting EXPORTGATE which is
supported by representatives of all three groups of stakeholders, with the aim to connect all dynamic sectors of the
economy, including tourism, transport and energy to make the country attractive for foreign direct investment.
Current situation includes:
 7500 companies participating in the portal from 16 countries;
 356 Greek exporting companies;
 4 Delegations: Cyprus, Serbia, Romania, Russia with 6250 B2B meetings;
 Lists of over 25000 companies from non EU countries;
 25000 sector reports & country reports/data for 170 countries, over 30000 International Trade Exhibitions &
4000 Business Associations.
The practice results can be applied in all countries in the sense that EXPORTGATE.GR portal has a two-way operation:
either export products from Greece and import them to any country or export products from any country and import
them to Greek Market. It connects producers and service providers with markets not only in Europe but also worldwide.
The portal is in English, thus it can be used internationally. It requires a simple registration through a form and is userfriendly and straightforward.
Exportgate webpage: www.exportgate.gr
Export gate registration link: https://www.exportgate.gr/main/register
Go International initiative: http://go-international.gr
Eurobank: http://www.eurobank.gr/online/home/index.aspx?lang=gr
109
MATCHING 2.0 – THE VALUE OF A MEETING
Name of
Company
the
 CDO.net Srl
CDO: Compagnia delle Opere
Type
Company
of
 Ltd.
Address
City and Region
Via Legnone, 20
(Organizational Secretariat)
 Milan
Postal code
 20158
Country
 Italy
 (+39) 0267396206
Phone

Fax
E-mail
Website
www.e-matching.it
The 9th edition of Matching 2.0, from the 25th to the 27th November 2013, will take place in the traditional venue of
the Milan Exhibition Centre in Rho (MI).
The 9th edition of Matching 2.0, from the 25th to the 27th November 2013, have been taken place in the traditional
venue of the Milan Exhibition Centre in Rho (MI, Italy).
As first step, companies intending to participate to the event describe on the www.e-matching.it portal their business
operations and needs, as well as the benefits of their products and services. These details are cross-referenced to produce
a schedule of personalized meetings for each participant. Each company places its own offering and capacity at the
disposal of the network and examines its own needs to determine which meetings are of greater interest for the company.
Matching 2.0 is an excellent opportunity to develop new business relationships.
Matching 2.0 provides a unique opportunity for businessmen to select new suppliers, to meet potential customers, to
examine markets, to internationalize and to innovate. Within the cultural context of Italian market, in which SMEs have
always integrated and networked, Matching 2.0 provides a chance to expand and fine-tune these networks.
Since participants in Matching 2.0 come from such a large number of different sectors, companies can benefit from a
vast range of potential relations.
Major public institutions took part in recent years together with large enterprises.
Some examples from 2012 Edition: the regional council of Lombardia, as well as the those of Emilia Romagna, Sardinia
and Veneto regions, ACEA, ACI Global, A2A, Alitalia, ATM, Bombardier, Busi Group, Camozzi Holding, CMB, Comau,
Enel, Engineering, Farchioni Olii, Ferrovie Nord Milano, Ferrarini, Finmeccanica, Fondazione Meeting per l’amicizia fra
i popoli, Hertz, Honeywell, Metropolitana Milanese, Microsoft, Obiettivo Lavoro, Poste Italiane, Primavera, Renault,
Sorgenia, Total, 3 Italia and Unicredit Group.
Registered companies are divided into categories:
Construction and plant; Services and training; Agriculture and food; Information and communication technology;
Mechanical and vehicles; Marketing, advertising & commercial development; Healthcare; Woodwork, furniture &
furnishing; Energy, heating & the environment; Consultant studios; Textiles and clothing; Electronics & electro-technics;
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Manufacturing; Transport and logistics; Tourism, catering & wellbeing; Chemical, rubber & plastics; Finance, credit,
insurance & public bodies; others.
Matching’s wealth-generating formula is within the reach of all budgets (for contractual terms and conditions, see the
participation form and the general regulations that accompany it).
Matching 2.0 offers a vast range of service solutions, including:
 Your company’s name on the www.e-matching.it portal;
 The chance to do business with companies from all sectors;
 Highly qualified workshop and training sessions;
 Meetings with foreign operators to help you to internationalize;
 Participation in conferences and events that attract leading figures from public and business life;
 A schedule of meetings for an intensive working programme;
 Your presence in the participants’ catalogue, distributed in 10000 copies: a valuable guide to the world of business.




Company’s name on the www.e-matching.it portal until the next edition;
Internationalization specialized service and tools. Matching 2.0 offers a chance to meet international buyers and
companies from 40 different countries;
Organization of several thematic workshops;
Specialized Newsletter Service focus on Internationalization topics (Italian language only).
Economic resources
CDO staff cost, national and local offices.
Each enterprise pays a fee to participate at the event and to obtain various types of stand different in size, both collective
and individual.
The cost is different for CDO members and for non-affiliates.
Fee
Stand Type
Basic
Open Pool
Open Pool
(maxi collective stand, up to 12 enterprises)
Plus
CDO member
€ 2.500,00
€ 1.850,00
€ 1.500,00
Non-affiliate
€ 3.000,00
€ 2.250,00
€ 1.800,00
€ 6.000,00
Staff
Part-time staff workers dedicated to promotion activities, business development, event support and organization: 10 from
the CDO national head office.
100 workers from 38 CDO local offices.
Know-how
“On the job” education has been continuously improved for nine-year event activities.
111
In the past two years, the main obstacles were:
 The time elapsed from the initial interest of the company in participating to the moment of subscribing to
Matching 2.0;
 The more the elapsed time the less the time available for organizing the participation.
The results is a reduction in the efficiency of the event.
Steps to overcome the obstacles:
 The portal has been upgraded to allow companies quickly identify opportunities and interlocutors of possible
interest;
 In the last weeks before the event, local offices of CDO are full-time dedicated to support enterprises.


Continuous increase of number of commodities groups and enterprises;
Presence and matching - at the same time – of profit and non-profit sectors.
The Matching 2.0 event is the results of intensive all year round activities performed by CDO. Local events such as
“Expandere with Matching” are useful preparatory steps for the national event.
The event reached its ninth edition at the end of 2013.
Participating companies in the most important commodities groups in 2012 were:
 Construction and plant: 248;
 Agriculture and food: 229;
 Services and training: 231;
 Healthcare: 130 (including 42 hospitals);
 Textiles and clothing: 70;
 Transport and logistics: 52;
 Energy, heating and environment: 97;
 Tourism, catering and wellbeing: 48.
To transfer this good practice is necessary to set up a capillary structure that reaches the highest number of enterprises
in different sectors. How? By means of a Social Network for enterprises, or a company’s association such as CDO.
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Matching2013 – Brochure (ENGLISH):
http://www.ematching.it/cdo/UploadFileService?allegatoId=1500&folderImg=/var/opt/cdo/data2013/comunicazioni/
Matching2013 - Brochure (BULGARIAN):
http://www.ematching.it/cdo/UploadFileService?allegatoId=1492&folderImg=/var/opt/cdo/data2013/comunicazioni
113
NATIONAL EXPORT PORTAL BULGARIA (NEPBG)
Name of
Company
the
 Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA)
Type
Company
of
 Government Agency
Address
2-4 Lege Str.
 Sofia
City and Region
Postal code
 1000
Country
 Bulgaria
 (+359) 29407993
Phone
(+359) 29407940
Fax
E-mail
Website
www.sme.government.bg/en/
The practice NEPBG is part of the project “Promoting the internationalization of SMEs” under OP “Development of
the Competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy 2007-2013”.
The General Objective of the project is Strengthening and expanding the presence of Bulgarian companies at EU and
world markets and effective use of advantages of the Single European market.
The web based portal is an efficient tool for supporting SMEs on entering foreign markets, finding foreign business
partners and investors.
The main features of NEPBG are:
 Free access to rich database and useful information;
 Registration of export-oriented enterprises in a catalogue;
 Finding current business proposals, events and activities;
 Search of appropriate business partners (match-making);
 Bilingual version of the portal - Bulgarian and English.
The access to the functionality of the portal is designed for three types of users:
 Registered user - has access to the total information of the portal;
 Registered user with associated enterprise - has access to the total information of the portal, are able to update
the enterprise data, to upload product information;
 NGO - representatives of all branch organizations, after registration are able to upload information about their
organization.
Registered user with associated enterprise:
 Representatives of companies willing to be registered in the database portal, fill out a special online registration
form with updated information about the company and send signed and sealed forms by e-mail, fax or mail.
The verification is necessary as a preventive measure against abuse.

Company Catalogue:
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Contains database of Bulgarian export-oriented enterprises with the ability to search using filters on criteria - product,
sector and branch of economy, which are set by the user;
 18 Export Strategies were elaborated and can be downloaded free from the Portal:
The two strategies of special interest for AGRO-START Project are:
o EXPORT STRATEGY “Manufacture of Food Products”;
o EXPORT STRATEGY “Manufacture of Beverages”;
 Other main headings of NEPBG include:
o Most popular sectors and products - analysis of export oriented sectors and products;
o Initiatives in the country - Information about trainings and business forums, registration forms and
surveys;
o Initiatives abroad - International fairs, trade missions and business forums;
o Information and consultancy services;
o Communication with commercial representative offices;
o Bulgarian companies looking for partners.
 Ask the Expert:
In search of advice on a specific case or issue users of the National Export Portal may send a message to BSMEPA on
e-mail: [email protected] ;
 E-business - this submenu provides:
o Virtual business space;
o Direct link producer - consumer;
o Instant access to information;
o Ability to publish multimedia to present products (photos, etc.);
o Opportunity to promote goods and services corresponding to the requests of customers;
o Ability to identify the need for new products in the management of SMEs;
o E-bulletin - up to now 8 e-bulletins were issued.
Economic resources
1. For elaboration of the National Export Portal Bulgaria were spent 120000 BGN;
2. The hardware costs 44000 BGN;
3. Development of sectorial export strategies for 18 export-oriented sectors defined by the Ministry of Economy
and Energy - 793200 BGN.
Staff
The total staff of The Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA) is 55 persons.
Know-how
The following introductory, information and specialized seminars were carried out:
 56 Introductory training for capacity building and knowledge of Bulgarian enterprises to enter the international
markets;
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

33 Seminars for all existing instruments for export promotion offered by state institutions and various
promotional institutional and international programmes;
36 specialized seminars to promote export by sectors.
The repair of the premises envisaged for use under the project was postponed due to a change of the agency’s
headquarters 3 times in the last 2 years.
The delay was overcome and the contracted equipment was installed after successful repair of the premises.
After the accession of Bulgaria to the EU in 2007 theoretically all Bulgarian companies, including SMEs received access
to the huge Single European market. For the practical realization of this opportunity and the successful introduction of
Bulgarian SMEs to international markets it was necessary to provide, easily available information and incentives to
encourage export-oriented production, and wider participation in trade fairs and missions. This goal was successfully
addressed by the development and maintenance of the National Export Portal Bulgaria.
With the rapid development of web-based services in many areas of economic life the need arises for a modern integrated
information service that supports Bulgarian SMEs in adapting and modifying their production processes to successfully
enter and do business on foreign markets. This demand is successfully met by the National Export Portal Bulgaria,
developed and maintained by BSMEPA.
Up to now NEPBG’s company catalogue has more than 62000 companies, including:
Food Sector 4576; Beverage Sector 719.
Eight e-bulletins have been distributed with current information about promotion initiatives and incentives supporting
SMEs in their participation in international fairs, exhibitions and trade missions.
Every registered entity (person or company) can get the names and contact information of all Bulgarian Trade
Representatives around the world. Furthermore, there is a special submenu “News from commercial representative
offices”.
The National Export Portal Bulgaria is a web based platform that easily can be transferred to any country.
As it is, NEPBG could be used and searched without any limitations by anyone in Bulgarian and English language. The
18 Export strategies can also be freely downloaded in Bulgarian and/or English by any registered user.
116
http://export.government.bg/ianmsp/en/home
117
REGIONAL/NATIONAL ANIMAL IDENTIFICATION AND
TRACEABILITY (CATTLE, SHEEP, LAMB, GOATS) IN ALBANIA –
ICT PLATFORM
Presented by: CBPD
Name of
Company
the
 Livestock Association “Ionian”
Type
Company
of
 Association
Address
City and Region
Postal code
Rruga Studenti, Lagjia Nr.3
Directory of Agriculture of
Saranda
 Saranda
 9701
Country
 Albania
 (+355) 4222905
Phone
(+355) 4222905
Fax
E-mail
[email protected]
Website

This good practice presents the implementation of the ICT platform, which realizes a permanent identification system
and the traceability of agricultural products from the farm to the table that helps meeting European quality standard, and
promoting the products.
ICT implementation: A permanent identification system and the traceability of agricultural products from the farm to
the table is planned to be implemented in two phases:
 Phase I: Regional Level Implementation;
 Phase II: National Level Implementation.
The mission of this platform is to make a significant contribution to the promotion of the products and the targeted
group, meeting European quality standard, and the improvement of food safety.
Improving the performance of livestock sector in Albania is part of the implementation project.
This project implementation promotes and realizes:
1. The improvement of the flock management practices in order to increase the flock productivity;
2. The creation of a commercial system to better valorize the products in relation to the market requirements;
3. Establishing the food chain;
4. Knowledge and Capacity of private food operators to comply with new food legislation;
5. Traceability and Labeling system for animal origin products.
This implementation realizes development, implementation and maintaining an information system, which allows to:
Limit and eliminate potential crises rapidly by reacting quickly to problems of animal disease and food safety.
Retrace all identified animals to their farm of origin or agrifood products to their production site, and know their histories,
their movements, and their present locations.
118
Improve diagnostic and checking capabilities, thus reducing the risks associated with the export and import of livestock
and agrifood products.
Advantages are: preventing the spread of disease; economic advantages; answering consumer concern; added-value in
sales and marketing; reaching the EU market; promotion of the target group.
Automation: To aid in the traceability of animals, the project team, suggests several tools, compatible with RFID tags,
which is a tool trio, composed of a RFID stick reader, “status” tags (pre-programmed electronic tags) and the free Form
CLIC declaration software, allows the various declaration forms to be completed rapidly and the data transferred by email to “Ionian”. The use of these tools in the identification and traceability process will eliminate much paperwork and
transcription errors.
Role of the tools: Each component of the automated trio system plays an important role: The RFID reader allows the
easy reading of the animal’s ear tag.
Operation of these tools: The Automated Trio System simplifies work in 5 easy-to-use steps.
The Value Chain System:
Quality – Reliability – Trust & Control-Hygiene-Transparency-Traceability.
The “Ionian” ICT implementation platform will implement the principals of food safety and traceability along the whole
chain “from farm to fork”. Clear principles of production binding for all members (Association “Good Practice Rules
and Regulations”) will assure healthy and good quality lambs/other. High standards of hygiene and control for
slaughtering, transport and sales will assure safe and fresh meat for consumers.
Economic resources
Partner of this project called PALA are:
 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection;
 Local Government Authorities;
 Livestock Farmers – Ionian Associations is the partner in charge to implement the ICT platform for traceability
during two phases.
The budget value for the implementation of PALA is 5 MLN Euro.
The budget value for the implementation of the ICT platform is € 300.000,00 (Regional/National level).
Staff
The project team includes: Project leader, livestock scientist, expert in animal identification and traceability (AI&T), IT.
Partners involved: Local/Government organization, University of Tirana, markets, dairy control organizations,
performances control organizations, animal transport companies, IT companies.
Know-how
The Livestock Association “Ionian” through implementation will speak with one voice to:
Protect, promote and support the economic viability of (cattle, sheep, lamb, goats) husbandry.
119
The value chain will implement the principals of food safety and traceability along the whole chain “from farm to fork”.
Clear principles of production binding for all members (Association “Good Practice Rules and Regulations”) will assure
healthy and good quality lambs.
The service has been specifically designed first to meet the specific needs of South Region of Albania and in the second
stage the targeted group in whole region of Albania. Promoting this ICT platform and getting the target group in use to
it, is an obstacle and also the lack of users’ knowledge of this platform.
1. Media promotion (National and local TV spots);
2. Training sessions;
3. Promotion campaign.
During the implementation of this project the following organization has played a very important role.
The Government organization and University has achieved the following services:
Supply the Ministry of Agriculture with a feasibility study of the implementation of electronic identification of sheep
and goats, in view of discussions at European level on a possible obligation of an electronic identification of all small
ruminants; Determine the required conditions for a possible generalization of the electronic identification, its feasibility
and its economic interest; Harmonize suitable Albania and European regulations; Give a better knowledge of the costs,
profits and constraints of a use in true size of the electronic identification and elements permitting to argue an equitable
distribution of the costs between the actors; Technical support and implementation monitoring in all Albania regions,
covering around 25000 livestock, accounts for almost 3 million heads of which 1.8 million are sheep.
Basic information on animal production and reproduction at the beginning were not collected by the farmers. However,
in 2003 an EU-funded project supplied basic facilities and identified requirements for the collection and processing of
zoo-technical data at the previous ex-Animal Husbandry Research Institute (IKZ). A food control system in place, from
production to processing, including transport chains and distribution system up to retail shops is subject to inspection
from the Competent Authorities.
The direct beneficiaries of this implementation are: Consumers and Farmers.
The present situation in Albania can be summarized as follows:
1. A high level of food safety has not been reached yet;
2. Currently, independent scientific advice on some aspects relating to food safety is still to be established;
3. A rapid alert system is not in operation;
4. Communication and dialogue with consumers on Food Safety/Quality and health issues need to be enhanced;
5. Networks with national agencies and scientific bodies need to be established and controls to ensure acceptable
EU safety standards are not yet regularly applied;
6. The ability to trace products through the whole food chain (farm to table) need to be established;
120
7. Development required of proposals/laws for animal feed sector that only suitable materials are used in its
manufacture and that use of additives are effectively controlled;
8. Risk assessment (risks associated with contamination of foods) needs to be established.
The capacity of the platform to become self-sustainable by the end of the project is the main sustainability issue of the
project: 35000 breeding ewes in the districts of Saranda & Tepelene and 30000 quality lambs marketed during the year in
Tirana and Durres.
www.qengjatejonit.al
The ICT platform is under construction (last phase)
121
Other Good Practice Examples
The following list contains the other Good Practice examples that have been presented
by the partners at the workshops.
Section 1
Effective approaches for diagnostic and assessment services on innovative and/or
efficient production and operational processes for the target sectors
Name
Animal Nutrition Consultancy Services
Who generated
E-mail
Top Nutrition
[email protected]
Name
Consultancy services for:
- Preparing projects financed by EU and implementation of the national program
for rural development;
- Trainings for improvement the knowledge and technical skills for agriculture
workers/entrepreneurs/employees of SMEs in agriculture sectors
- Individual consultancy for agriculture producers on technical, economical and
legislative aspects
Who generated
E-mail
Chamber of Agriculture Dambovita
[email protected]
Name
- Projects written for small business (SMEs) (opportunity assessment, business
viability and reliability, project writing, assistance/evaluation during
implementation of the project)
- Training for employees of SMEs in agriculture sector and other interested
persons to open a business or work in this sector
- Strategies of public interest (Drought Strategy for Galati County)
Who generated
E-mail
Chamber of Agriculture Galati
[email protected]
Name
Consultancy service for the design of the Feasibility Study regarding replanting by a natural hayfield within Rosiori village/Braila County
Who generated
“Lower Danube” University of Galati,
Faculty of Engineering of Braila, Agriculture
Department
[email protected]
E-mail
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
AGROSTAR
AGROSTAR
www.ccidb.ro
SE RDA / ADR SE
www.ojcagalati.ro
Presented by:
SE RDA / ADR SE
Website
www.ingineriebraila.ugal.ro
Name
Starting agro business through supporting the organic farming in the
framework of Wetlands Restoration and Pollution Reduction project
Who generated
E-mail
BCL Ruse EOOD
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
122
BSC SME
…
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Lifelong Learning and Vocational Training of Farmers
University of Agribusiness and Rural
Development – Branch Ruse (UARD)
…
Presented by:
BSC SME
Website
www.uard-ruse.bg
Name
Diagnostic and assessment service of the biological, environmental, economic
and social factors for creation of sustainable integrated horticultural and
animal breeding SME
Who generated
E-mail
KIT-48
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
Public Advisory Service for beekeepers in Slovenia
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Presented by:
Website
Čebelarska zveza Slovenije
Slovenian Beekeepers’ Association
[email protected]
BEF
-under construction-
Presented by:
KGZS
Website
www.czs.si
Public Farmers Advisory Service in Slovenia
Kmetijsko gozdarska zbornica Slovenije
Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of
Slovenia
[email protected]
Presented by:
KGZS
Website
www.kgzs.si
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Consulting services for the management and disposal of agricultural waste
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Consulting service for the access to the financial credit
Name
BELOQ: Ensuring that horticultural products are placed in the market without
quantifiable residues of plant protection products such as pesticides (not just
below MRLs)
Who generated
E-mail
RodaxAgro Ltd.
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Save the bees
Agricoltura Service Bari
[email protected]
Confagricoltura Centro Servizi Foggia
[email protected]
ApiCarrelli
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
www.confagricoltura.it
Presented by:
Website
ERFC
www.rodaxagro.gr
Presented by:
Website
MOLISE REGION
apicarrelli.blogspot.com
123
Name
SACOM GREEN BIOTECH SYSTEM (Complete assistance through the use
of natural resources)
Who generated
E-mail
SACOM Ltd.
[email protected]
Name
Pre-qualification Process (For MAMA’s project – Collection of homemade
premium products, made according to the traditional recipes)
Who generated
E-mail
MACEDONIA-EXPORT
[email protected]
Name
Data market sheet for the future export of the SME in the
agriculture/agribusiness sector
Who generated
E-mail
EPI CENTAR International
[email protected]
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
MOLISE REGION
www.grupposacom.com
FFRM
www.macedonia-export.com
www.macedonia-consulting.com
www.mamasfood.mk
FFRM
www.epicentar.mk
Section 2
Effective approaches in financial support tools for SMEs in the old, new Member states
and candidate countries and how to provide support for SMEs to inform about their
availability and access them (financial support for entrepreneurs, for innovative
approaches, etc.)
Name
The Farmer Program
Who generated
E-mail
Agriculture Ministry and many others public
and private institution
[email protected]
Presented by:
AGROSTAR
Website
www.madr.ro
Name
Supporting SMEs in accessing the National Plan for Rural Development
(NPRD)
Who generated
AGROSTAR Federation through Regional
Centre for rural entrepreneurs – Muntenia
[email protected]
E-mail
Presented by:
AGROSTAR
Website
www.federatia-agrostar.ro
Name
Accession of funds for agricultural exploitations in horticulture and animal
breeding sectors
Who generated
Paying Agency for Rural Development and
Fishery
[email protected]
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Presented by:
SE RDA / ADR SE
Website
…
Guarantee by the Chamber of Agriculture
Galati Chamber of Agriculture
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
124
SE RDA / ADR SE
www.ojcagalati.ro
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Enterprise Europe Network - Helas
Association of Industries in Thessaly and
Central Greece
[email protected]
Presented by:
CERTH / IRETETH
Website
www.sbtke.gr
www.enterprise-hellas.gr
Regional Agricultural Non-banking Revolving Fund (AgroFund)
Beneficiary:
Business Support Centre for SME - Ruse
Fund Operator:
BC Leasing Ruse Ltd.
[email protected]
Presented by:
BSC SME
Website
…
Name
Effectives approaches to the National credit scheme for investments in the
agriculture sector governed by Bulgarian state fund “Agriculture”
Who generated
E-mail
Bulgarian Farmers Association (BFA)
[email protected]
[email protected]
Name
Effectives approaches to the Bulgarian program for development of the vine
and wine sector 2008-2013
Who generated
E-mail
Cibola Agro
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Public Fund of Republic of Slovenia for Regional and Rural Development
Name
Who generated
Land Bank of Slovenia
E-mail
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
Slovenian Regional Development Fund
[email protected]
Deželna Banka Slovenije
Land Bank of Slovenia
[email protected]
[email protected]
BEF
www.baf-bg.org
BEF
www.cibolabg.com
Presented by:
Website
KGZS
www.regionalnisklad.si
Presented by:
KGZS
Website
www.dbs.si
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Insurance consulting services for risk management in agriculture
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Financial tool for credit access
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Alexandros Baltatzis-Rural Development Programme
Agricoltura Assicurazioni s.r.l.
[email protected]
Confagricoltura Servizi s.r.l.
[email protected]
Ministry of Rural Development and Food
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
…
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
125
ERFC
www.minagric.gr
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Farmer Aid Scheme
Name
Who generated
Services for financing rural SMEs: The Guarantee funds
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
OPEKEPE
…
Presented by:
Website
SGFA - Società di Gestione Fondi per
l’Agroalimentare S.r.l (Limited liabilities
company 100% of the capital owned by
ISMEA)
[email protected]
ERFC
www.opekepe.gr
Presented by:
UNIMOL
Website
www.ismea.it
www.ismeaservizi.it
AGRONET: Permanent network of services in food production
AGRONET
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
MOLISE REGION
www.moliseversoil2000.it
Section 3
Effective approaches for technology and innovation transfer to SMEs
Name
BIO - Promoting culture technologies with low impact on environment and
increased economic efficiency on obtained production
Who generated
E-mail
Bio farmers Association from Romania
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Name
Transfer of new technologies used in the vegetable sector regarding plant
nutrition, producing high quality vegetable seeds (hybrids and new varieties)
Who generated
E-mail
Trade Union of Agricultural Producers Olt
[email protected]
Name
TECHNOREGEN PROJECT – Innovative research to develop and implement
a new technology for the sustainable processing of renewable resources of
agricultural farms
Who generated
E-mail
MARCOSER
Email address
Name
Technological and innovation transfer facilitated by Galati Chamber of
Agriculture
Who generated
E-mail
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Transfer Protocol: “From Research to Industry”
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
CERTH / IRETETH
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
126
AGROSTAR
www.bioterra.org.ro
AGROSTAR
…
SE RDA / ADR SE
www.marcoser.ro
SE RDA / ADR SE
www.ojcagalati.ro
CERTH / IRETETH
www.cereteth.gr
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Senior Expertise for Technology Transfer (SETT)
Senior Expert Service (Foundation of
German Industry for International
Cooperation)
[email protected]
Presented by:
BSC SME
Website
www.ses-bonn.de
Name
Use of internet based platform Bioferma.bg to provide services to bio-farmers
in horticultural and the animal breeding sector
Who generated
Bioselena – Foundation for organic agriculture
Bio Bulgaria Ltd.
[email protected]
[email protected]
E-mail
Presented by:
BEF
Website
www.bioselena.com
http://bio-bulgaria.com
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Growing tomatoes with help of nature
Name
Assistance services for production of agricultural biomass from dedicated
crops for biogas generation
Who generated
E-mail
Confagricoltura Brindisi
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Technical information services for improvement of agricultural productions
Name
Eighty Years (1933-2013) of Best Practice Services of the Institute of
Technology of Agricultural Products (ITAP) to SMEs
Who generated
Institute of Technology of Agricultural
Products (ITAP)
[email protected]
E-mail
PRARADAJZ d.o.o.
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Anga Brindisi
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
KGZS
www.lust.si
www.confagricoltura.net
www.angapuglia.it
Presented by:
ERFC
Website
www.itap-nagref.gr
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Low enthalpy geothermal energy system
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Innovamolise
Name
Preservation of fruit- vegetables, table olives, olive oil, tomatoes products
using the raw fresh products available locally
Who generated
E-mail
Ndermarrja Ushqimore, Berat Albania
[email protected]
Chamber of Commerce of Campobasso
[email protected]
Sviluppo Italia Molise
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
MOLISE REGION
www.cb.camcom.it
Presented by:
Website
MOLISE REGION
www.sviluppoitaliamolise.it
www.innovamolise.it
Presented by:
Website
127
CBPD
www.sidnejalbania.com
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Digitalization of pig breeding - RFDI methods
Name
Developing technology transfer practical examples between local businesses
and academia
Who generated
E-mail
Foundation Business Start up Centre Bitola
[email protected]
Name
GROW MORE CORN: increased corn production by introducing new
technology (drip irrigation) and new farming protocols
Who generated
USAID Small Business Expansion
Project (SBEP) Carana Corporation
[email protected]
E-mail
ALBIDEA
…
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
CBPD
…
FFRM
www.bscbitola.org
FFRM
Website
http://macedonia.usaid.gov/en/sectors/economic/RSMDP.html
Section 4
Effective approaches for promoting and facilitating entrepreneurship in the target sectors
Name
AGAPIS & S.C. Valea Barcaului s.r.l.
Who generated
E-mail
Agapis Foundation
[email protected]
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Development of the entrepreneurial initiatives in the rural areas
Name
Who generated
E-mail
MARCOSER Ltd. Promotion In The Market
AGROSTAR Federation
[email protected]
MARCOSER Ltd.
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
128
AGROSTAR
www.agapis.ro
www.sanatate-dulce.ro
AGROSTAR
www.federatia-agrostar.ro
SE RDA / ADR SE
www.marcoser.ro
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Harvesting Days – Autumn Fair. 12th edition in Galati
Name
Who generated
AGRO-TOOL
E-mail
[email protected]
CENTER
of
AGRICULTURAL
ENTRERPENEURSHIP of GREECE
(C.A.E.)
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
SE RDA / ADR SE
www.ojcagalati.ro
Presented by:
CERTH / IRETETH
Website
www.kaep.gr
Name
Facilitating Farmers under measure 143 –“Provision of advice and
consultation in agriculture in Bulgaria and Romania” for the period 2007 –
2013
Who generated
National Agricultural Advisory Service
(NAAS)
[email protected]
[email protected]
E-mail
Presented by:
BSC SME
Website
www.naas.government.bg
Name
The financial internet platform “MoitePari.bg” - the perfect tool for facilitating
entrepreneurship in the horticultural and animal breeding sector
Who generated
E-mail
Moite Pari Ltd.
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Agriculture is fab-culture
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Olive oil connecting neighbors
Name
Pacchetto Multimisura Giovani Agricoltori - Young Farmers Multi-measure
Package
Who generated
Puglia Region - Policies for Rural Development
Area
[email protected]
E-mail
KGZS
[email protected]
Municipality Brda
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
BEF
www.moitepari.bg
Presented by:
Website
KGZS
www.kgzs.si
Presented by:
Website
KGZS
www.obcina-brda.si
Presented by:
Website
www.svilupporurale.regione.puglia.it
Name
One-stop shop for guidance and support to entrepreneurship of immigrants in
the agricultural and agrifood sector
Who generated
CIHEAM
Istituto
Mediterraneo
di
Bari
Confcooperative Puglia
[email protected]
E-mail
Agronomico
(IAMB)
/
Presented by:
Website
www.iamb.it
129
Name
CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP at the American
Farm School - Perrotis College
Who generated
CENTER
FOR
AGRICULTURAL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
[email protected]
[email protected]
E-mail
Presented by:
ERFC
Website
www.afs.edu.gr
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Implementation of setting up support for young farmers
Name
Accompanying Planning - Programming guidance for promoting
entrepreneurship development in the Molise Region
Who generated
E-mail
Sviluppo Italia Molise S.p.a.
[email protected]
PEC: [email protected]
[email protected]
Name
Dealing with Food Waste by Microwave-Assisted Pyrolysis: Can you “kill”
two birds with one stone?
Who generated
E-mail
Mikroen Solutions
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
Creating a livelihood on a fresh market vegetable farm – in Albania
E-mail
MOLISE REGION
…
Presented by:
Website
Center for Integrated Agricultural Albania
(CIAA)
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
MOLISE REGION
www.regione.molise.it
MOLISE REGION
www.sviluppoitaliamolise.it
CBPD
www.mikroen.com
Presented by:
CBPD
Website
…
Name
Who generated
E-mail
SME support project “Business without borders”
Name
Who generated
Women In NetWork for INnovation and Entrepreneurship
Foundation Business Startup Centre Bitola
[email protected]
WIN WIN Project partnership:
Presented by:
Website
FFRM
www.bscbitola.org
Presented by:
FFRM
Website
www.winwinproject.eu/en
Partners from Macedonia
Municipality of Resen;
Association of craft artists ZUR “Macedonian
handicrafts” Bitola:
Association for Development of Alternative
Tourism LJUBOJNO, v. Ljubojno
Partners from Greece
Ergani Centre from Thessalonica, Greece
Region of Western Macedonia
E-mail
[email protected]
130
Section 5
Effective support approaches to assess on entering new markets, meeting European
quality standard, promotion of products and facilitate the internationalization of SMEs
Name
Promoting the ecological agriculture and ecological products
Who generated
E-mail
Bio Romania Association
[email protected]
Name
Programs for information and promotion of agricultural products on the
internal market (UE market) and in third countries
Who generated
Agriculture Ministry through General
Directorate of Agricultural Policy and
Strategies
[email protected]
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
INDAGRA FAIR
Name
Who generated
Promoting Romanian Wine
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
ROMEXPO
…
Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry
through the Rural Development National
Program, Chamber of Commerce and
Industry,
Agency for Payments and
Intervention in Agriculture, National
Federation of Local Action Groups, Payment
Agency for Rural Development and Fishery,
private initiatives & companies, etc.
…
Presented by:
Website
AGROSTAR
www.bio-romania.org
Presented by:
AGROSTAR
Website
http://www.madr.ro/ro/promovareproduselor-agricole.html
Presented by:
Website
SE RDA / ADR SE
…
Presented by:
SE RDA / ADR SE
Website
…
ENTERPRISE EUROPE NETWORK-HELLAS
Association of Industries in Thessaly and
Central Greece
[email protected]
Presented by:
CERTH / IRETETH
Website
www.sbtke.gr
www.enterprise-hellas.gr
http://www.anko-eunet.gr/el/POD
131
Name
Big Support for the Internationalization of Small Businesses – Enterprise
Europe Network, Bulgaria
Who generated
Enterprise Europe Network Consortium Bulgaria
[email protected]
E-mail
Presented by:
BSC SME
Website
www.enterprise-europenetwork.smebg.net
Name
Effective support approaches for promotion of Bulgarian dairy and milk
products on the EU market - European Dairy Heritage programme
Who generated
E-mail
National Association of Milk Processors
[email protected]
Name
Effective support approaches to meeting European quality standard by
acknowledging the European protected geographical indication(PGI) for the
Bulgarian rose essential oil
Who generated
E-mail
Association “Bulgarian rose essential oil”
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
Together for new success – Internationalization for SMEs
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Name
Who generated
E-mail
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of
Slovenia
Chamber of Agricultural and Food
Enterprises
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
Presented by:
Website
BEF
http://www.european-dairy.com
BEF
www.bnaeopc.com
Presented by:
KGZS
Website
www.gzs.si/zkzp
Meeting European standards – introducing cross compliance in Slovenia
Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of
Slovenia
[email protected]
Presented by:
KGZS
Website
www.kgzs.si
The services of Confagricoltura for the internationalization
Confederazione Generale
Italiana – Confagricoltura
[email protected]
dell’Agricoltura
Presented by:
Website
Name
Project “Temporary Expert for Export - E4E” - Support for internationalization
of SMEs
Who generated
E-mail
Unioncamere Puglia
[email protected]
Name
Who generated
E-mail
MASTIHASHOP
Name
Who generated
E-mail
EXPANDERE
MEDITERRA S.A. - MASTIHASHOPS
[email protected]
CDO Foggia
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
www.unioncamerepuglia.it
Presented by:
Website
ERFC
www.mastihashop.com
Presented by:
Website
UNIMOL
www.cdofoggia.it
132
Name
Who generated
E-mail
EU Information Relay Business Center - Albania
Name
Who generated
E-mail
PANTHEON Farm Accounting
Union Chamber of Commerce of Albania
[email protected]
Datalab MK
[email protected]
Presented by:
Website
CBPD
www.uccial.al
Presented by:
Website
FFRM
www.datalab.com.mk
133
ISBN 9788896394137
This publication is edited by University of Molise under the
“Transnational network for SME support in the animal breeding and horticulture sector – AGRO-START” Project
Priority: Facilitation of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Area of intervention: Develop the enabling environment for innovative entrepreneurship
South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme
Project financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
and the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

Guide of good practices supporting innovation in agro sector

Transcription

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