We intend economic development as the promotion of better standards of living and socioeconomic well-being for the benefit of all. We believe it needs to bring the private and the public perspectives together to the benefit of the country and its citizens, involving multiple interventions that span from human capital development to the support to private sector, employment, regional and local competitiveness, innovation, trade, etc.
Economic development has been a major area of Eurecna’s activities from the very beginning. Eurecna is the international consultancy arm of CNA, the largest Federation of crafts and SMEs in Italy, which counts with more than 9,000 staff working in 1,250 offices throughout Italy providing a broad range of services to member firms. The knowledge and skills developed by CNA include cluster development, innovative financial arrangements and product innovation and are at the basis of the Italian model for business entrepreneurship.
Over more than 20 years, Eurecna has successfully transferred the huge SME-related know-how of CNA to several countries in Central-Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. We have contributed to the development of the national SME support infrastructure and strategy for competitiveness implementing large EU-funded projects for the SME sector during the pre-accession phase in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Romania. More recently, we have been working in the regional and local development sector providing advisory service to set up regional and local development agencies and to build the capacity to undertake participatory planning for regional and local development strategies.
Our main areas of interventions are:
- Private Sector Development
- Competitiveness and Innovation
- Regional and Local Economic Development
- TVET Reform and Employment Policies
- Quality, Trade and Export promotion
- Programme Management Units
- etc.
Private initiative is the key trigger for economic development in the global market. Today, an increasing number of countries is pursuing structural reforms aimed at encouraging private sector development, with policies aimed at increasing fair competition and entrepreneurship.
In the last 20 years, Eurecna has capitalized the experience of CNA, the largest Federation of crafts and SMEs in Italy, which is a pillar of the Italian business support system, transferring its best practices within technical assistance projects for the private sector development. We strongly believe that private sector development is a source of wealth, dynamism, competitiveness and that employment and incomes generated by private enterprises lead to a more equitable and inclusive growth.
Our main areas of expertise are:- SME development policies and Support Measures
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Business environment simplification
- Competition, anti-corruption and state-aid policies
- Credit Schemes for Small Businesses and Guarantee Funds
- R&D, Innovation and Technology Transfer
- Agribusiness and Rural Development
- etc.
Eurecna started to work in industrial restructuring in Phare and Tacis countries in the 90s, providing technical assistance to governments within large privatization processes. We advised governments for managing large-scale reconversion programmes in regions hit by strong industrial decline, implementing measures for mitigating the social impact of restructuring at sector and company level.
Today, we provide technical services to support international competitiveness, developing strategic business plans, providing support in product design and development, drafting innovation strategies. We advise public and private actors in operational marketing, sales expansion plans and on quality management and productivity improvement.
Our main areas of expertise are:- Business Development and Enterprise Restructuring
- Industrial Modernisation and Sector Competitiveness
- Business incubator and accelerators
- Innovation policies and measures
- Sustainable and green business
- Privatisation Policies
- Industrial Reconversion and Social Mitigation
- etc.
The challenge of enhancing prosperity, improving wellbeing and living standards for a sustainable and inclusive growth is at the core of the concept of local and regional development.
Since 2000, Eurecna has been working to establish Regional and Local Development Agencies, to support decentralisation schemes and the devolution of responsibilities from national to local level. We advise local decision makers in the development of strategies, action plans and participatory mechanisms for planning, including public–private partnerships, and we have worked for the reorganization of public utilities: water, energy, gas, waste collection and treatment.
Our main areas of expertise are:- Capacity Building for Regional and Local Development Agencies
- Socio Economic Surveys and Strategic Planning
- Territorial Planning and Infrastructures
- Pre-accession Instruments
- Tourism development
- Poverty alleviation and income generation
- Evidence based policies
- Sustainable development
- etc.
Technical Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) and labour policies are primarily meant to improve the employment indicators for better social inclusion and economic growth. Providing the right skills matching the actual needs of the labour market is a priority for fighting unemployment through human resources development.
Eurecna has managed several projects aiming at improving the labour market effectiveness and reforming the Vocational Education and Training systems. We carry out analyses on the labour market dynamics, update VET training curricula to the needs of the industrial sector, develop pro-active employment measures, as well as actions aimed at improving the employability of redundant workers and first job seekers, including outplacement services, job clubs and self-employment incentive schemes.
Our main areas of expertise are:- Training and curriculum development
- Vocational Education and Training
- Labour market research
- Labour Market Policies and Active Labour Market Measures
- Human Resources Development
- Decent Work
- etc.
Being part of the CNA group, which is a major business federation, Eurecna has been working extensively during the past two decades in emerging and transition countries on trade-related projects. This makes us deeply familiar with the EU policy and measures in many relevant sectors, including foreign trade development, quality management systems, standardisation, customs, food safety and food processing.
Eurecna implements projects that aim to accelerate legal and regulatory reforms and strengthen the capacity of relevant government structures in the area of trade and single market in compliance with WTO requirements to enhance the general trade conditions and the capacity of national enterprises to compete on the export markets.
Our main areas of intervention are:- Free trade zones and regional integration
- Quality and risk mitigation safety management systems
- WTO requirements
- Product quality, safety parameters and compliance costs for exporters
- Accreditation, certification and quality standards
- HACCP systems, food safety and processing
- Standardisation, conformity assessment and industrial regulations
- Customs
- Impact evaluation studies and technical sectoral studies
- Technical, sanitary and phytosanitary barriers
- etc.
Eurecna has managed several Programme Management Units (PMU) or Programme Coordination Units (PCU) over the years, gaining a solid experience in planning activities, allocating resources and managing budgets of complex multi-component Technical Assistance projects/programmes in line with EU procedures.
We provide support in managing EU funds in a transparent and efficient way, writing Manual of Procedures, drafting Applications Forms and Guidelines for Applicants, operating grant schemes and Programme Estimates, facilitating the procurement for beneficiary organisations and developing Management Information and Financial Control Systems. Our experience include also the operation of credit lines made available by international donors and development banks for private sector development.
Our main areas of expertise are:- Management of large Programmes
- Drafting Annual Programme Estimates (APE) and Overall Programme Estimate (OPE)
- Administration of Aid Funds
- Operation of Grant Schemes
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- Operation of Credit Lines
- Assistance to Budget Support
- Procurement
- etc.