RAG – Your Ticket to the World of Entrepreneurship

The project “RAG – Your Ticket to the World of Entrepreneurship” has been successfully implemented and 20 users from the municipalities of Bosanski Petrovac, Petrovac, and Ribnik have started their own businesses.

The project, funded by the EU through the EU4BusinessRecovery program and supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO), was implemented by GEA – Center for Research and Studies in collaboration with partners from the Regional Action Group for Employment (RAG). The project provided significant financial and technical support for entrepreneurs in the municipalities of Bosanski Petrovac, Petrovac, and Ribnik in the fields of agriculture, tourism, and home-based work. Some of the key results of the project are listed in the text below:

Over 140 users have submitted forms to participate in the project.
15 days of training have been conducted through the “Start and Improve Your Business” and “GET Ahead” modules.
15 days of training in specific areas: vegetable farming, livestock breeding, beekeeping, agrotourism, and marketing.
Three rounds of consultations with participants of the “Winter School” during the development of business plans.
107 participants have completed the “Winter Entrepreneurship School.”
65 participants received certificates for successfully completing the training (17 males and 48 females). Among these, 14 were from the municipality of Bosanski Petrovac, 11 from Petrovac, and 40 from Ribnik.
48 participants submitted business plans (32 women and 16 men). Of these, 34 business plans were related to agriculture, 7 to tourism, and 7 to craftsmanship.
Evaluation of business plans by an independent expert commission.
Conducted 48 field evaluations.
Selected the top 20 business plans eligible for financing.
Registered 20 independent businesses (1 in tourism, 4 in agrotourism, 5 in craftsmanship, and 10 in agriculture). Eight recipients were from Ribnik, seven from Bosanski Petrovac, and five from Drinić.
Disbursed 20 grants for starting independent businesses (payment in three installments) totaling 9,100 KM.
Conducted 60 field evaluations of the dedicated use of allocated funds, with no observed or recorded misuse.
Provided mentoring support for grant recipients (15 days of support in practical management and entrepreneurship, and 20 days in agriculture, livestock farming, beekeeping, and agrotourism).
Procured three electric bicycles for TO Drinić.
Acquired a laptop for TO Ribnik.
Obtained a multifunctional device for the established Help Desk center.
Held two capacity-building training sessions for RAG. The first on “Building the Capacity of Local Communities in BiH to Support Agriculture and Rural Development,” and the second on “Sustainable Tourism Based on Local Community and Family Micro-entrepreneurship.”
Conducted a study visit to LEP in Livno.
Held four RAG meetings.
Conducted 20 project team meetings (including the December, last meeting we will have).
Produced promotional video material about project beneficiaries, offerings, and the experience provided by project municipalities.
Established a Help Desk for entrepreneurial support, including four support mechanisms: support for those intending to start a business, support for those already registered and seeking to improve their business, testing business ideas in agriculture and tourism through an online calculation model, and establishing direct communication channels through Viber, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger applications.
Adopted a new Action Plan for RAG for the next three-year period.
Conducted a study visit to Croatia to apply lessons learned in the development of our region’s tourism.
Held a roundtable on the topic of sustainable and experiential tourism in project area municipalities.
Adopted the RAG Action Plan for tourism development.
Participated in several meetings and online meetings organized by donors.
Participated in the final promotional event of the EU4BusinessRecovery project.