Publisher's Synopsis
This book is based on a conference of the same name held in the Czech Republic in April, 1995. A group of small business development centres in Central Europe had been established with aid from the United States ? and now that aid was coming to an end. The purpose of the conference was to share ideas on making the centres self-sustaining. This book is a record of the proceedings and provides unique material. It includes some of the best thinking on sustainability, from representatives of the US Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and leading consultants. It also includes first-hand reports from directors of centres, which give a vivid picture of the special challenges of small business development in Central Europe ? and how these resourceful people are responding to them. The book will be of particular interest to anyone who is working to promote entrepreneurship and small business growth in emerging market economies. - - This book emanates from the Central European Small Business Enterprise Development Commission (CESBEDC) in Washington, DC. The CESBEDC was established in 1990 by the US Congress. Its mandate was to assist Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in developing a 'self-sustaining system to provide management and technical assistance to small business owners' during the transition from socialist to market-oriented economies.
