On February 10 – 11, 2005 in Geneva the Forum on Entrepreneurship in the UNECE Region: The Key Building Blocks, Challenges and Opportunities” took place. Over 100 UN member-countries participated in the forum. The forum work was split into four blocks: financing, training, innovations input, and legal regulation. Prof. V.V. Visokov, Chairman of Board of Directors of “Center-Invest” bank, Doctor of Economics, was invited by the organizers to make a speach at the forum.

In his speach “Innovations in the Small Business International Cooperation” Prof. Visokov narrated on the “Center-Invest” bank experience in supporting innovations in the international cooperation of medium and small business companies in Southern Russia, and on the challenge of interpreneurship development, that has to be faced by the world community.

“Center-Invest” is the innovation bank following all the stages of reforms in the South of Russia. The bank is actively cooperating with foreign partners in crediting of medium and small scale business. For today the crediting and guarantee lines for medium and small business were opened to “Center Invest” by such leading financial organizations as International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finantial Corporation, United States Agency for International Development, KfW Entwicklungsbank, HERMES State Insurance Company (Germany). Total amount of crediting and guarantee lines provided by international partners to “center-Invest” bank equals to USD 70 million.

“Center-Invest” bank entered the new stage of support and development of international cooperation of its clients, that benefits not only to the bank clients, but their foreign partners, and their clients as well.

Within the framework of “PARTNER” Program, elaborated with assistance of the Administration of the Rostov Region, Council of German Economy of the Russian Federation, and “Center-Invest” bank in the “Center-Invest” Information and Educational Complex the Internet search for business partners in Germany for Rostov Region companies. The informational Internet portal “Internat Association of Small Business Companies of the Don Area” (www.amb-don.ru) was started for this purpose. This portal contains a special section with the offers of German entrepreneurs for cooperation with Russian partners. This service has already been used by 500 companies from Russia and 200 companies from Germany. Portal data base lists over 25,000 companies.

The participants of the forum have eagerly suppoerted the proposal of “Center-Invest” bank for development of international cooperation of medium and small scale companies in global economy:

• to incorporate the section on cooperation with small scale companies into the Corporate Codes of Conduct of transnational corporations and natural monopolies;
• incorporate the small scale companies into the UN and other international organizations procurement subcontracts;
• incorporate the small scale companies into the list of co-executors of financing projects for the means of international financing organizations and state budjet;
• obligatorily incorporate a section on development of small scale companies development into all the international agreements.

The contacts with the forum participants shall be continued and the small scale business of Southern Russia shall obtain the new exit to the international scene within the frame of the UN European Economic Committee.