Establishment
The National Agency for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (later reffered to as NADSME) was founded in 1993 by a common initiative of the EU and the government of the Slovak Republic. The agency supports development and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Slovak Republic with the aim to improve the competitiveness of the sector within the single EU market and the markets of third countries by means of 4 main priorities:
· the stimulation of the sector growth,
· the increase of its competitiveness,
· internationalisation – penetration into new markets,
· the facilitation of the access of SMEs to funding sources.
In 1993, the founding members set up and registered a foundation “National Agency for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises”. In 1997 the agency changed its legal form into the professional association of legal entities whose main members are the following organizations:
The agency is an organization of a non-profit character. The management and control of the agency is secured by NADSME bodies as follows:
· The Assembly of Representatives
· The Administrative Board
· The Supervisory Board
· The Director - General
The supreme body that is in charge of the management of all strategic activities is the Assembly of Representatives.
The Administrative Board is an executive and decisive body that takes important decisions connected with the activity of the agency and approves middle and long-term direction of the agency.
The Supervisory Board as a control body inspects the economy of the association and the use of all means in accordance with the directives of the general biding legal regulations and the statute of the agency.
The agency is managed by the Director-General who acts on its behalf
Mission and objectives
The National Agency for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (later referred to as NADSME) has been established with the aim to support the development and growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Slovak Republic in line with the state structural, industrial, technical, regional and social politics.
The Agency coordinates activities, including financial ones, at the international, state, regional and local levels in order to support the development of SMEs in the Slovak Republic.
The Agency mainly:
· identifies and analysis barriers of the business development, prepares proposals for their elimination including drafts of legal regulations and via the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, as a patron of SMEs, submits them to the government,
· prepares proposals for the state politics and strategy formulation that are important for SMEs. Via the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, as a patron of SME, it submits them to the government,
· fulfils tasks connected with expert realization of projects and programmes aimed at the support of SMEs in Slovakia. These activities are carried out in relation with programmes of the pre accession help of the EU, bilateral and multilateral programmes as well as programmes financed from the State Budget of Slovakia. At the moment, the agency is an implementation body for the pre accession programme PHARE in Slovakia, i.e. it is responsible for financial and administrative management of projects aimed at the direct and indirect support of Slovak SMEs. As of May 2004, it takes part in the implementation of projects financed from structural funds within the Sector Operational Programme - Industry and Services (SOP IS),
· in cooperation with financial institutions it participates in the set up of loan and guarantee systems for the establishment, stimulation and development of SMEs,
· supports the development of SMEs by means of support programmes and financial contributions (repayable and non-repayable) which are provided to entrepreneurs,
· secures the execution of support programmes for SMEs in individual regions of Slovakia via the cooperation with regional organizations aimed at the support of SMEs,
· secures the building of the infrastructure for the business development (incubators) with the aim to support starting entrepreneurs and innovative technologies,
· secures the connection with existing European information networks and databanks in business area,
· initiates and encourages the development of activities of citizens in the sphere of SMEs by means of promoting programmes for the public, release of information literature, organizing conferences, seminars and exhibitions.
