Municipality Centar allocates 100,000 KM for young people to start businesses

With the aim of encouraging youth employment, the Municipality of Centar Sarajevo has been providing financial support from its budget for the best business projects aimed at developing entrepreneurship and self-employment of young people from its area for the second year by co-financing the costs of starting and developing their own businesses. For this purpose, 100 thousand marks have been allocated in this year's municipal budget, reports Patria agency.

Residents of the Centar municipality up to 35 years of age who are registered as unemployed with the Public Institution Employment Service of Canton Sarajevo are eligible for non-refundable funds from the budget of the Municipality of Centar to start and develop their own businesses, which can amount to up to 15,000 KM per business plan.

Based on the Decision on encouraging youth employment from the budget of the Municipality of Centar, which was unanimously adopted by the Centar Municipal Council, this project was launched last year and 50 thousand marks were allocated in the budget. After the public call and the completed procedure, non-refundable funds were approved for five candidates whose business plans were assessed as the best.

This year, 22 candidates with their business plans applied within the prescribed deadline for the public call for financing and co-financing of the best business projects aimed at developing entrepreneurship and employing young people, which was published in May and remained open for two months. The procedure for evaluating business plans and awarding non-refundable funds from the Municipality of Centar for encouraging youth employment is carried out by a commission, in accordance with the established criteria and measures. The commission for carrying out the procedure for awarding funds for encouraging youth employment has processed all received applications, i.e., business plans, and unanimously decided to invite 18 candidates, whose business plan quality achieved above 60 points, for an interview and presentation of business plans.

- After the candidates presented their business plans at the end of September, the aforementioned commission, in accordance with the prescribed criteria, prepared a decision according to which 10 to 12 young future entrepreneurs would receive non-refundable funds, with whom contracts will be signed in the next month. It is important to emphasize that an increasing number of young people no longer want to wait for an opportunity to be employed in administration, but want to start their own businesses, and the Municipality of Centar is the only one that gives them the opportunity to fulfill this, for which we are very grateful, said Amer Kapo, who, as a councilor and president of the Centar Municipal Council Commission for Youth Issues, was the initiator of this project, adding that he sincerely hopes that the Municipality of Centar will continue this project in the future.