Thanks to the good experiences from the previous two phases, the Japanese Agency for International Cooperation – JICA, through the project “Strengthening and expanding mentoring services in SMEs in the countries of the Western Balkans”, continues to provide support to the Development Agency of the Republic of Srpska for the establishment of a sustainable mentoring system to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
At the same time, the project has been implemented in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Its realization began on January 1, 2022 and will last until January 1, 2025.
The focus of the Agency at this phase is the education and certification of trainers of future mentors so that the system becomes completely self-sustaining. In parallel with that, work will be done on the certification of new mentors throughout the Republic of Srpska in order to make this service more accessible to all interested business entities.
Mentors are nominated by local development agencies or local administrations responsible for supporting the real sector where no local agencies have been established.
The mentoring service identifies a key problem in the company, and with the support of the mentor, the management is directed towards the solution, in order to improve the development of the company. Mentoring services will be supported by co-financing from public funds, and possibly other sources such as international development programs.
There are currently 71 certified mentors in the Republic of Srpska, 10 mentor trainers and 66 business entities have received mentoring services.
