The seminar was conducted within the framework of the SME Innovation Capacity Boost Project under the Interreg - Balkan-Mediterranean 2014 - 2020 Transnational Program, aimed at increasing the innovation potential of small and medium-sized enterprises in the region. Experts from the statistical offices of Bulgaria, Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the National Association of Small and Medium Business in Bulgaria (leading partner in the project), the Science and Technology Park of Crete at the Foundation for Research and Technology - Greece, the Institute of Information and Communication Technologies at BAS, Foundation for small and medium-sized enterprises - Skopje, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Regional Development Agency of the Korce, Albania participated in the seminar.
The meeting was opened by the President of the NSI - Mr. Sergey Tsvetarsky, who welcomed the participants and wished them fruitful joint activities to achieve the project goals, stressing the importance of cooperation between the partners for enhancing the transnational innovation capacity of SMEs in the Balkan-Mediterranean region.
The seminar presented the development and actual status of innovation statistics both within the EU and in the participating in the project countries. The methodology and questionnaire for conducting a statistical survey of the innovation activity of SMEs in Albania, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were discussed and adopted in general.
