Small Business in Transition Economies: Promoting enterprise in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

With the collapse of the communist central planning regimes throughout Eastern and Central Europe and the vast area of the former Soviet Union there has been a trend toward building up a significant private sector and encouraging dynamic growth in the emerging markets of national economies. The donor agencies have responded by developing aid programmes to help in the creation of a strong private sector and more specifically to help in the development of small and medium enterprises (SME). This book looks at some of the experiences of SME projects carried out in the various countries in the region. Four themes considered of central importance to SME development * financial support, technical and management services, favourable policies conducive to SME development and the involvement of international donor agencies * are examined.

Jacob Levitsky is a development consultant working with the Donor Agencies Committee for Small Enterprise Development, and was formerly Small Enterprise Advisor for the World Bank, Washington DC.