SIPPO Serbia: Strengthening National Ecosystems Through Strategic Partnership with CCIS

As a leading business support organization (BSO) in Serbia and a member of the Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF), CCIS is uniquely positioned to engage with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) at both local and regional levels. The WB6 CIF, a joint initiative of chambers of commerce from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, represents approximately 350,000 companies. Its mission is to strengthen regional business networks, remove trade barriers, and foster investment within the Western Balkans. This strategic role allows CCIS not only to excel as a national leader but also to emerge as one of the most dynamic BSOs in the Balkans.

CCIS provides key insights into European markets
In collaboration with SIPPO Serbia, CCIS unlocks European market opportunities by delivering key insights through market intelligence, uncovering untapped export potential, and promoting new, and enhancing export promotion services through a focus on sustainability and digitalization. Our partnership emphasizes compliance with sustainability standards, staying ahead of digital trends, and adapting to evolving market demands. By fostering organizational agility, resilience, and competitiveness, we ensure that CCIS remains a key driver in supporting export-ready SMEs and enhancing their global competitiveness.

Dušanka Kalezić, Advisor to the President, CCIS:

"CCIS is a national leader in advocating for the economic interests of its members. It works to ensure sustainable economic growth by promoting a pro-business environment across all sectors, including industry (18 Business Associations), agriculture, international business cooperation and trade, services, entrepreneurship, and education. The CCIS strives to foster a competitive green and legislative framework that supports the profitability and growth of its members, improving business conditions in Serbia.

Driven by the needs of its members, CCIS envisions Serbia as an economic leader in the Balkans, a stabilizing force in the region, and a hub of economic prosperity.This is why our long-standing cooperation with SIPPO Serbia is crucial for the future development of our services, as we prioritise export promotion, sustainability and digitalisation. Our goal is to empower SMEs to become resilient, agile, and export-ready, offering high-quality products to the EU market. And we will succeed together with guidance and assistance from SIPPO.”

CCIS is a leading BSO in the Balkans
At the heart of CCIS’s mission is the vision of a leading BSO in the Balkans providing accurate, viable, and high-quality export promotion services to its members. CCIS plays a pivotal role in driving Serbia's economic growth while helping businesses become more resilient and globally competitive.

In partnership with the Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) Serbia, CCIS has placed export promotion, sustainability, and digitalization at the core of its mission. This strategic collaboration aims to ensure that Serbian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), can meet international standards and access the lucrative European Union (EU) market. By focusing on these key areas, CCIS is working towards building an economy that not only fosters innovation but also prepares businesses for long-term growth.

SIPPO promotes the development of strong regional co-operation between BSO
SIPPO Serbia, with its peer SIPPO offices in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and North Macedonia, is committed in facilitating building stronger regional BSOs cooperation! SIPPO offices in the Balkans teamed up to organize the first "Regional Workshop for Business Support Organizations in the Value-Added Textile", 14-15 March 2024 in Skopje, making joint efforts to forge closer cooperation ties and bolster communication among regional BSOs. By this initiative, SIPPO not just facilitated the launch of a transparent regional dialogue and an engagement of all relevant parties which is the best possible way to build a strong and sustainable approach, but also helped regional BSOs in the textile industry to better cope with global markets and their challenges and to preserve resilience in a rapidly changing world.

We are most proud of the fact that regional BSOs recognized the need for networking and for joint projects. This led to the initiative to prepare a Memorandum of Understanding among the Balkans BSOs in the textile industry, which was signed on the occasion of the 2^nd Regional BSOs in Value-Added Textile Industries Workshop from 3-5 December 2024 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are looking forward to extending the extensive cooperation with our SIPPO colleagues in the Balkan region in other SIPPO designated sectors – Technical Wood or Natural Ingredients, in the future.

 Flexibility is needed to build strong, resilient and agile BSOs
Building strong, resilient, and agile business support organizations takes time. Today, amid raising sustainability regulations, digitalization trends, challenges imposed by the European value chains, the Serbian ecosystem with CCIS as a national leading BSO organization still demonstrates strong resilience. What is the secret? Flexibility in meeting the raising sustainability and digitalization trends helps CCIS to shape its position as the BSO leader in providing a high-quality export promotion service to its members and seeking the opportunities in the European markets and value chains. Furthermore, SIPPO Serbia is well aware of how these changes affect the creation of new, modern export promotion services that will help companies to stay in business, position themselves well and be recognised by European buyers.

Introduction of “hybrid” services
SIPPO Serbia continues to support CCIS in the further development of sustainable and digital export promotion services, thus recognising two major market trends - sustainability and digitalisation - as an integral part of contemporary export promotion services (trade fairs, trade missions, market orientation missions, etc.). In this approach, the core pillars of the programme – export promotion, sustainability and digitalisation – are not seen as separate activities, but rather in terms of greater synergies, better integration and sustainability. SIPPO Serbia refers to these approaches as ‘hybrid’ services, which are to be further developed and implemented by CCIS.

Through this collaboration, CCIS is now able to provide tailored services to local SMEs to help them overcome export barriers. This includes providing insight into international market trends, improving product standards to meet EU requirements and facilitating links between local companies and international buyers. The aim is to enable SMEs to become export-ready, with competitive products that can succeed in the EU market and beyond. These businesses are the backbone of the Serbian economy, and ensuring that they are ready to compete on the global stage is crucial to the country's overall economic stability and growth.

Sustainability and Digitalization at the Core of Future Growth
As part of its commitment to fostering sustainable growth, CCIS focuses on two critical areas for future business development: sustainability and digitalization. In an increasingly interconnected world, adopting sustainable practices is not just an ethical responsibility—it’s also a competitive advantage. CCIS encourages Serbian businesses to integrate sustainability into their operations, ensuring they meet international environmental standards and contribute to a greener economy.

Digitalization is equally important in helping businesses become more agile and responsive to market changes. By embracing digital tools, Serbian SMEs can streamline their processes, improve efficiency, and access new markets. Through training, resources, and workshops, CCIS is helping businesses adopt cutting-edge technologies that will enable them to stay ahead of the competition.

Remarkable digital support tools as result of "hybrid" export promotion services
SIPPO Serbia is very proud to present some of the first results of this attempt to create hybrid export promotion services for CCIS, combining export promotion with sustainability and digitalisation. Together with CCIS, we have supported the development of a Sustainability Readiness Assessment Tool and a Digital Product Passport Tool. This is an important self-assessment tool for companies to measure and improve their sustainability and compliance with EU regulations. In addition, SIPPO supported the launch of the "CCIS Sustainable Export Webinar Series" to help CCIS build capacity and raise awareness of sustainability regulations among its members, covering the most topical sustainability issues for companies in the natural ingredients and textile industries. By digitising this series, we are giving CCIS companies free and unlimited access to these valuable insights from SIPPO's top-class consultants. Last but not least, SIPPO Serbia has facilitated data-driven decision-making within CCIS, enabling them to identify growing sustainability and digitalisation trends and incorporate them into their export promotion services. This approach contributes to the development of more inclusive, resilient and responsive export promotion services in CCIS, based on data collected and information identified on market opportunities, sector competitiveness and opportunities for export growth.

Engaging the Audience into the Community
Raising awareness and encouraging engagement among SMEs is critical to the success of CCIS initiatives. Social media plays a crucial role in this process, enabling CCIS to inform and interact with its audience of domestic, export-ready SMEs. Through regular updates, interactive posts and insightful content, CCIS ensures that its audience is aware of the latest trends, policies and support services available to help them grow.

By sharing success stories, providing industry insights, and offering actionable tips, CCIS is building a community of businesses that are not only export-ready but also equipped to face the challenges of a rapidly changing global economy. This proactive engagement helps foster a resilient and dynamic ecosystem, where businesses can thrive and grow sustainably.

Projects and Visions for the near future
The future of the Serbian economy lies in the hands of export-ready small and medium-sized enterprises.With the right support from CCIS and its clear focus on export promotion, sustainability and digitalisation, Serbian SMEs have the potential to lead the way in the Balkans and beyond.Through its ongoing commitment to these values, CCIS ensures that Serbian businesses are empowered, competitive and ready for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow's global marketplace.

Thus, in addition to sustainability, digitalisation remains high on SIPPO Serbia's agenda for the near future, with significant implications for CCIS interventions.Building an inclusive, sustainable and durable CCIS systemic approach to the provision of modern export promotion services would not be possible without support from the use of digital tools. SIPPO Serbia continues to support CCIS in introducing new services where digitalisation is an integral part. 

For example, we are helping CCIS to establish its position as the national one-stop-shop for SMEs in the country by facilitating the development of the CCIS Trade Fair Guide, the first integrated, comprehensive and user-friendly digital platform for export-ready companies preparing to exhibit at international trade fairs or participate in trade missions.