{"id":3169063,"date":"2023-10-19T08:16:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T08:16:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T15:56:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T15:56:53","slug":"big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/","title":{"rendered":"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cMade in the Western Balkans \u2013 supported by the EU\u201d<\/a>\u00a0was the tagline of the first Open4Business event that took place in Skopje on 5 October 2023, gathering nearly 500 participants. Organised by the European Commission, in cooperation with the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia and Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum, the event was dedicated to helping micro, small, and medium-sized businesses learn more about the support offered to them through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).<\/p>\n \n

250 companies took part in Skopje, or followed online, and were impressed with the level of support on offer.\u00a0Boosting the innovation and resilience of the private sector was the key message delivered in the opening session. \u00a0The panel discussions for the rest of the morning detailed the specific programmes offered by EIB, EBRD and KfW, giving the floor to small businesses to share how they have benefitted from the international financial institutions\u2019 support.<\/p>\n \n

The afternoon was dedicated to one-on-one sessions between businesses and local banks to discover what could interest them specifically. These meetings were held in each of the Western Balkan\u2019s capitals, and over 80 conversations took place.\u00a0Sashka Mamu\u0107evska<\/strong>, one of the attendees, is a founder of a female-led start-up. \u201cThis kind of event is rarely organised in our country,\u201d she said, \u201calthough it is very important for us to get information on better access to financing for SMEs\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMade in the Western Balkans \u2013 supported by the EU\u201d\u00a0was the tagline of the first Open4Business event that took place in Skopje on 5 October 2023, gathering nearly 500 participants. Organised by the European Commission, in cooperation with the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia and Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum, the event was dedicated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3169064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"area-of-cooperation":[285],"country":[245,246,247,248,249,250],"opportunity-type":[],"class_list":["post-3169063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","area-of-cooperation-economy","country-albania","country-bosnia-and-herzegovina","country-kosovo","country-montenegro","country-north-macedonia","country-serbia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBig interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans - WeBalkans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans - WeBalkans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cMade in the Western Balkans \u2013 supported by the EU\u201d\u00a0was the tagline of the first Open4Business event that took place in Skopje on 5 October 2023, gathering nearly 500 participants. Organised by the European Commission, in cooperation with the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia and Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum, the event was dedicated […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WeBalkans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/webalkans.eu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-19T08:16:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-05T15:56:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-35.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"674\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"WeBalkans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@webalkans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@webalkans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"WeBalkans\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"WeBalkans\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d\"},\"headline\":\"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-19T08:16:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T15:56:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":240,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4-2-35.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/\",\"name\":\"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans - WeBalkans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4-2-35.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-19T08:16:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-05T15:56:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4-2-35.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4-2-35.jpeg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"WeBalkans\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"European Union\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/webalkans.a3ia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/eu_flag.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/webalkans.a3ia.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/eu_flag.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":401,\"caption\":\"European Union\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/webalkans.eu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/webalkans\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d\",\"name\":\"WeBalkans\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"WeBalkans\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/webalkans.eu\\\/en\\\/author\\\/administratorwebalkans\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans - WeBalkans","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans - WeBalkans","og_description":"\u201cMade in the Western Balkans \u2013 supported by the EU\u201d\u00a0was the tagline of the first Open4Business event that took place in Skopje on 5 October 2023, gathering nearly 500 participants. Organised by the European Commission, in cooperation with the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia and Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum, the event was dedicated […]","og_url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/","og_site_name":"WeBalkans","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/webalkans.eu","article_published_time":"2023-10-19T08:16:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-05T15:56:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":674,"url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-35.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"WeBalkans","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@webalkans","twitter_site":"@webalkans","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"WeBalkans","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/"},"author":{"name":"WeBalkans","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d"},"headline":"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans","datePublished":"2023-10-19T08:16:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T15:56:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/"},"wordCount":240,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-35.jpeg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/","name":"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans - WeBalkans","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-35.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-10-19T08:16:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-05T15:56:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-35.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4-2-35.jpeg","width":500,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/big-interest-from-small-businesses-for-eu-support-in-the-western-balkans\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Big interest from small businesses for EU support in the Western Balkans"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/","name":"WeBalkans","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#organization","name":"European Union","url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/webalkans.a3ia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/eu_flag.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/webalkans.a3ia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/eu_flag.jpg","width":600,"height":401,"caption":"European Union"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/webalkans.eu","https:\/\/x.com\/webalkans"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/37696e5e8da00bfff60a5d65a98e366d","name":"WeBalkans","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/03084609f33b36ead9aaf435a425d98fcf237d1b3aede9aeb31eb165a76b48c5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"WeBalkans"},"url":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/author\/administratorwebalkans\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3169063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3169065,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3169063\/revisions\/3169065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3169064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3169063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3169063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3169063"},{"taxonomy":"area-of-cooperation","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/area-of-cooperation?post=3169063"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=3169063"},{"taxonomy":"opportunity-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webalkans.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/opportunity-type?post=3169063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}