Banca Intesa, a member of international banking group Intesa Sanpaolo, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have marked ten years of successful cooperation in the implementation of the "Women in Business" programme, a financial and business support initiative for the development of female entrepreneurship in Serbia, intended for small and medium-sized enterprises managed by women.

At an event organized to mark the anniversary, a new, eighth credit line within the "Women in Business" programme was signed, in the amount of 15 million euros. Thanks to previous credit lines, totalling 39.5 million euros, Banca Intesa has so far supported numerous female entrepreneurs through favourable loans with relaxed collateral requirements, secured with the support of the programme donors the European Union, Italy, Luxembourg and Sweden.

In addition to financial support, the Women in Business programme also provides female entrepreneurs with advisory support, participation in workshops for improving business and skills, a mentoring program and numerous activities that provide them with the opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with other businesswomen.

In the Western Balkans, including Serbia, women entrepreneurs continue to face numerous challenges, both in terms of access to finance and knowledge, which affects the economic opportunities they have to start and grow their businesses. To promote women entrepreneurship by addressing the obstacles, in 2014 the EBRD created the “Women in Business” programme in the Western Balkans and Turkey. Since then, the programme has supported around 8,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises led by women across the region to grow their business with financing worth around 110 million euros. In addition to financing, over 600 one-on-one advisory projects with women-led SMEs were carried out, as well as trainings for over 4,000 women participants.