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In order to respond to the
needs of the current stage of the economic reforms in the country, the Board
determined the priority programs for 1999:
- Social Investment Fund A joint project with
the World Bank. Objective:
the provide the background for more effective allocation of funds in
the framework of the Social Investment Fund which is to be created by
the WB and the Bulgarian Government. The Institute develops an assessment
of the SME sector as a possible absorber of the unemployment resulting
the structural reform. The concrete topics to be developed: a “snapshot”
of the sector; trends in unemployment; existing impediments to SMEs
development. A separate accent will be put on possible solutions of
the issue “access to working and investment capital” as well
as on the necessary legislation amendments aiming to allow microcrediting
schemes outside the banking system. The project is to be completed by
the end of August;
- Microlending for Minority Communities A joint
project with C.E.G.A. foundation. Objective:
for the first time in Bulgaria to convert humanitarian assistance scheme
into credit scheme. Addressees of the
project: Roma agricultural producers
in 2 villages in Plovdiv region. First phase of the project is expected
to be completed by 15 November (the deadline of the pay-backs);
- Assessment of PHARE SMEs Assistance projects -
IME was contracted to play the role of local coordinator of the assessment
of PHARE SMEs projects - to assess their efficiency as well as to propose
possible ways of improvement both of the organizational scheme and of
the economic environment in general;
- Access To Capital: Implementation of Microcrediting
Scheme in Minority-Populated Communities financed by NOVIB and Friedich
Naumann Foundation(joint project with C.E.G.A. foundation, Sofia);
- Competitive Advantages of Regions.Creating
Compatitive Clusters financed by the World Bank (the idea
is to assess the competitive advantages of Bulgaria, Albania, Romania,
Bosnia & Herzegovina and Macedonia, using M.Porter’s “diamond”
methodology; parallel to the research a public debate will be initiated
reflecting the vision on the future of different segments of the society);
- Public Procurement: Fair Government Practices -
FNSt - Hungary (conducts a comparative research of corruption and
public procurement related problems in seven East-European countries
through assessment of legal framework and procedures regulating the
public administration);
- Mortgage Financing Regulation for Bulgaria financed
by the German Marshall Fund and Bulgarian-American Investment
Fund. The mission of the project is to introduce a house mortgage
scheme in Bulgaria. The project has three
tracks: 1. Drafting regulations dealing
exclusively with mortgage financing; 2. Improvements in the broader
regulatory and institutional environment (taxation, foreclosure procedures,
registries, establishing mortgage banks, etc.); 3. Implementation of
the adopted regulations.;
- Agrarian Reform, Ethnic Conflict and Political Stability
in Bulgaria aims at developing solutions to problems stemming from
the transformation of former “rural proletariat” into small
rural owners and to contribute to reduction and avoidance of provisional
ethno-economic conflicts through facilitating access to property and
economic opportinities.
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