US Ambassador visits Novi Pazar; Learns first hand how USAID Supports Progress of City’s Businesses

sreda, 07 jul 2010 15:25

Novi Pazar, July 9, 2010: U.S. Ambassador in Serbia, Mary Warlick, traveled to Novi Pazar on July 9, 2010 to meet with 10 companies receiving business support from USAID’s PPES Economic Security Program to understand how current USAID programs are benefiting individual companies and the region and consider ways in which the programs can best serve the region in the future. 

The process for revitalizing an industry is a hands-on job. USAID’s PPES team offers that assistance and much more. Companies are trained not only in basic core business functions but are mentored in the development of business and marketing plans and taught how to prepare for, exhibit and successfully close deals at major regional and European Trade Fairs.  The results report the value of the intense partnership between Novi Pazar business and USAID: between 2007 and 2009, apparel companies supported by the Economic Security Program enjoyed an overallsales growth of 14 percent.   

The economy of Novi Pazar and its apparel industry are linked; in recognition of this relationship, PPES helped guide a new marketing approach that brings companies together to work cooperatively locally in order to be more competitive internationally.  A specific test was creation of the Novi Pazar brand, “Jeans from Serbia.”  The four companies, Exit, Bross, Benneli and Denistar, entered the  Düsseldorf Fashion Fair under the common brand to remind European wholesalers, retailers and boutique owners of Serbia’s high-quality denim and urban designs once coveted throughout Europe and Southeast Europe in the 1980s. In addition to cooperative marketing and common branding, USAID, through the work of PPES, supported the creation of the Association of Textile Producers, ASSTEX.  This new cluster organization, formed in late 2008, helps all apparel companies become more competitive by making it easier for member companies to access EU markets. 

To support development of a properly prepared workforce, USAID launched an Internship Program in partnership with the Sandzak Economic Development Agency (SEDA). The unique program provides young people with practical, hands-on work experience to help make them more competitive in the job market. In 2010, 100 students will benefit from the Internship Program, three times as many as last year.  Finally, USAID’s Economic Security helped open a Career Center in the International University of Novi Pazar to provide the region’s university students with information and counseling on career opportunities and preparation to become competitive in a modern labor force.  

Photographs from the meeting: 

Please contact PPES Communications Office for more photographs from the event or photographs in higher resolution.

(Photographs by PPES; Cover Photo of Ambassador Warlick FONET Photo for PPES)