SPARK

Based in Amsterdam, SPARK is an independent not-for-profit foundation with field offices in Belgrade, Mitrovica, Podgorica, Pristina, Skopje and Tuzla and SPARK-supported Business Start-Up Centres in Bar, Bitola, Kragujevac, Pristina and Zenica. Our annual budget is over 2,5 million euro and over 50 staff are employed.

SPARK concentrates its activities, mainly in the Western Balkans, on small and medium enterprise (SME) development, the creation of an enabling environment for private sector development and providing higher education institutions with the tools necessary to support the development of an entrepreneurial spirit in society. SPARK sees these as cornerstones for sustainable economic development.

Our 2 private sector development projects:

1. South East European Business Start Up Network: ATA established 5 Business Start-up Centres (BSCs) in Bosnia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. Aim of the network is to foster sustainable economic development by supporting local economic and (higher) education institutions to promote entrepreneurship. The BSCs provide practical training to young people (18-35) on how to start small and medium commercial enterprises. Through a business plan competition the most promising participants are selected and will be assisted in starting their business through soft loans, free registration of their business and technical assistance.
   • www.bsckosovo.org
   • www.bscbar.org
   • www.bsczenica.org
   • www.bscbitola.org
   • www.bsckragujevac.org
2. Private Sector Development in the Western Balkans: This project aims at building capacities of stakeholders in South East Europe to jointly tackle shared economic challenges. It provides a platform for different stakeholders involved in private sector development (PSD) to exchange knowledge on various aspects of PSD and regional economic cooperation.