On November 2, the meeting of the working group on the drafting of a regional development program of small and medium business for 2017-2018 took place; Director of the Department of International Cooperation and Regional Development of Regional State Administration, Volodymyr Merezhko led it.

The development of the Programme aims at the creation of favourable conditions for business activity, improving of the investment climate and providing of the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises, including the introduction of effective system of its maintenance, support and protection.

As Volodymyr Merezhko has noted, the Program will consist of two sections. The first one will include the information about the status and analysis of the problems of small business in the Vinnitsa region, the SWOT - analysis, the main goal of the Programme and expected results of its implementation. The second section will include a coordinated set of measures, aimed at the creation of favourable conditions of the development of SMEs in the region.

"The results of the implementation of this Programme should be: accelerated development of small and medium enterprises, full use of its potential and their subsequent transformation into an effective mechanism for resolving economic and social problems of the region. At the same time, we must take into account the existing obstacles for its development, including the remaining tax burden on the business, lack of information and awareness of legal business entities, lack of motivation for investment and innovation activities and others ", - highlighted the Director of the Department.

Except representatives of regional and local executive authorities, local governments, public associations, business associations and business ombudsman, the working group also included four leading experts of USAID Program «Leadership in economic governance", implemented in six regions of Ukraine, including Vinnitsa.

In particular, Ihor Burakovskyy, The director of the Public Organization "Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting", the senior economic adviser of USAID Programme, has presented the proposed structure of the SME Development Strategy of Vinnitsa region until 2020. He said that the joint work on the strategy would increase the degree of consolidation and coordination of the efforts, and to concentrate the limited resources at the solving priority tasks for support of small and medium enterprises at the regional level.

"Not only the representatives of regional authorities should be attached to the development of a strategy, but also the representatives of business and business associations of the region, investors, donor community, public organizations and experts", - said I. Burakovskyy.

Arthur Kovalchuk, Expert of USAID Programme «Leadership in economic governance", has described the current status of small and medium enterprises in Vinnitsa region in his presentation.

Moreover, the participants of the meeting had the opportunity to discuss the priorities of small business development, including the following: improvement of the regulatory environment, development of financial, credit and investment policies, and the further formation of infrastructure of the resource and information maintenance, as well as professional development of personnel in the field of entrepreneurship.

Following the meeting, it was agreed by all participants to provide the suggestions for further generalization by the Department and inclusion the Programme to the project until November 4.