The final event of the project “BalkanMed INNOVA, Balkan-Mediterranean Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation”, which was implemented within the framework of the “INTERREG Balkan-Mediterranean 2014-2020” Program, took place online on September 24 and 25, 2020.
The event was honored by the presence of representatives of institutions and companies, young scientists, potential entrepreneurs, consultants, and experts in the field of entrepreneurship, as well as representatives of partners from North Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Bulgaria, and Cyprus.
The event aimed to present the results of the Project, as well as to promote the business culture, emphasizing the benefits that the Project has offered and will continue to offer both to the local communities of the participating countries and businesses, through new knowledge, and training to participants.
The event was opened by the scientific responsible of the BalkanMed INNOVA Project, Prof. Chrysostomos Stylios, who addressed a greeting and presented extensively the actions and results of the Project. Specifically, Prof. Stylios spoke about the challenges faced through the Project and presented the goals achieved, the main ones of which are the encouragement of the creation of innovative businesses, the cultivation of an entrepreneurial spirit and the development of Small and Medium Enterprises, and the stimulation of the entrepreneurial mentality with special orientation in four sectors of great strategic importance for the socio-economic development: Tourism & Cultural Heritage, Agri-food sector, Information and Communication Technologies for small and medium enterprises and the Energy and Environment sector. Mr. Stylios emphasized the fact that through the actions of the Project benefited, mainly, young, unemployed, future entrepreneurs, companies, professionals, graduates and young researchers from Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, and Cyprus. Taking advantage of online training and knowledge transfer, the beneficiaries had the opportunity to improve their skills, enhance their knowledge and exchange ideas and views with the business communities of the Project partner countries. The following speakers made extremely interesting presentations on entrepreneurship and its connection to the new digital age, rural development, innovation, and internationalization.
On the second day, the start-ups that won the Startup Innovation Competition, organized by the six partners, were presented. Beneficiaries briefly presented and explained their business plans to the public, and a team of business consultants and experts asked them questions about the business plans and provided advice and feedback to the beneficiaries.
The presentations were followed by interesting discussion as well as an exchange of views on the prospects for the development of business culture in SMEs.
