Around 180 small and mid-size Serbian companies and entrepreneurs enhanced their business thanks to the free assistance offered by experts of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), competent officials released on Wednesday on the occasion of the conclusion of the Project on Institutionalization of Mentoring System for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

The three-year project was funded by the Japanese government and was realised by the Serbian National Agency for Regional Development in cooperation with JICA.

Mentoring is a comprehensive and long-lasting process of support to companies and entrepreneurs w facing crucial moments for their development or survival, officials said and added that the project yielded important results in enhancement of enterprises' operation without financial investments.

Director of the Serbian National Agency for Regional Development Ivica Ezdenci stated that companies did not need to withdraw new loans in order to achieve better financial results, but instead rationalised their business and solved problems in a more efficient way.