The SME100 Expo is an initiative launched in 2022 with the idea of recognizing and gathering leading small and medium-sized enterprises according to a predefined methodology and enabling their voices to be heard. The third annual gathering of the "SME100 Expo 2024: New Growth Agenda for SMEs” will take place on October 18, 2024, at the Science and Technology Park in Čačak. This year's gathering is aimed at mobilizing and directing key actors towards the realization of more intense and effective developmental support for the SME sector.
These are the "leaders" within the population of Hidden Champions, companies where direct exports of their own products and services account for more than 24.9% of their revenue and have a value greater than EUR 1 million. Companies that earn from the export of low-value-added resources, agricultural products, or trading and transportation services are not included.
Within the Platform for General Social Dialogue "Sustainable Development for All" and in the context of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Agenda 2030, CEVES has been engaging in a dialogue (individually and in smaller roundtable discussions) with key Serbian entrepreneurs for over two years. The purpose of these discussions is to identify the development needs of the Serbian economy and initiate initiatives that will contribute to realizing this vision by 2030. In doing so, CEVES is promoting the role that leading Serbian SMEs can and should play in sustainable development in Serbia.
NTP Čačak is an influential factor in local and regional economic development that provides conditions for the development of entrepreneurship, application of innovations and cooperation between science and business in the area of western Serbia. NTP Čačak enables cooperation between the economy, science and research, the development of new ideas and the application of innovative solutions in order to increase the competitiveness of the regional economy, create high-tech jobs and improve the quality of life.
Organizers
The organizers of SME100 Expo 2024 are CEVES and the Science and Technology Park in Čačak, with partners including GIZ Green Economy Project, USAID Big Small Businesses Project and SME Hub