Alfarural shield AFARURAL Business Center

Business Center for Rural Zone

I. The Project


"AFARURAL BUSINESS CENTRE" is a complex programme for technical assistance and juridical counselling for private entrepreneurs from rural communities who want to initiate a small business as freelancers / private entrepreneurs or Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

This programme foresees:

1. Founding a network of pilot -centres for rural businesses in Cluj County, which will provide the implementation and the development of this programme's activity.

2. Editing a set of specialised publications as a support for the formative-informative activities regarding the professional orientation and the managerial formation of the rural entrepreneurs.

3. Organising formative-educate and practical activities for the private rural entrepreneurs (training, workshops, trade fairs and exhibitions, etc.).

4. Juridical counselling and technical assistance for the economical activities unfurled by individual entrepreneurs (private entrepreneurs/family business) or for the foundation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

Justifying the project:

The restructuration of the socio-economical systems after 1990 generated a set of processes and transformations that had a great negative impact in the rural area: no production relations, jobs crises, blocking the natural youth migration, unemployment. In this socio-economical context developing or initiating a bussiness became very hard, all the activities beeing reduse to the traditional agriculture.

The private sector is insufficient represented in the rural areas, the commercial societies are practical inexistent and the industrial production is just a thing heard of. There is also a lack of services for the rural population. Even so the actual legislation created a set of facilities for the people wanted to develop an activity in the rural areas, very few entrepreneurs have the knowledge and the resources to initiate and develop a business.

The process of obtaining the legal authorisation for economic private activities a is very long and the methodology is complicated, that's why many entrepreneurs prefer to initiate activities without an authorisation contributing in that way to the diminution of the national budget. Without a legal statute these entrepreneurs cannot be a part of the assistance, social protection and consultancy services offered by the national or international programmes.

Duration: 12 months.

Goals:

- To degrease the dependence of economic activities to primary agriculture.
- To create a favourable business environment in rural zone.
- Entrepreneurial education of the entrepreneurs from rural zone.

Activities:

1. Professional and entrepreneurial orientation of the young entrepreneurs from the rural zone through:
- Specialised services of management for agricultural equipment
- Services of agrotourism
- Productive services of processing the raw materials resulted from agro-zoo technical activities

2. Juridical consultancy and technical assistance for the rural entrepreneurs in order to get the authorisation of working; this assistance will apply to:
- Individuals
- Familial associations
- Agricultural productive associations
- Small and medium sized enterprises

3. Managerial training for rural entrepreneurs for developing the activities they initiated:
- Management of the profit associations
- Financial management for small and medium sized enterprises

4. Capitalisation of the agrotouristical potential in Cluj district
- Inventory of rural farms for the development of agrotourism
- Classification and authorisation of the entrepreneurs for services of agrotourism
- Founding an agency specialised in the promotion of the agrotouristic services

5. Editing promotional publications

6. Organising trade fairs and exhibitions

The development of the project:

Informational activities

Editing informational and promotional publicationes:
- AFARURAL Campaign poster
- AFARURAL brochures
- AFARURAL newsletter
- Mass-media campaign
- Editing:

AFARURAL Guidebook / Summary:
- Specific Legislation
- Taxes for freelancers.
- Account for Freelancers.
- Guidebook for the authorisations of freelancers.

Financial resource for private economic activities in rural zone / Summary:
- Support programs for the development of private economic sector in rural zone.
- Banks programs products and services for small business.
- Guarantee funds for agricultural credits.
- Leasing;
- Business plan for small entrepreneurs.

Guidebook for rural tourism entrepreneurs Summary:
- Specific Legislation.
- Rural tourist potential of Cluj County.
- Guidebook for the authorisations of small entrepreneurs in rural tourism activities.

Training activities: Managerial training
- Juridical frame
- Small business management in rural zone
Juridical consultancy and technical assistance
- Juridical consultancy and technical assistance foe authorisations

Marketing activities
Promoting the products and services by organising fairs like:
- "AFARURAL WORKSHOP "
- "AFARURAL CRAFTSMAN "
- "AFARURAL AGROTUR"
- "AFARURAL SUSTENABLE"

Expected results
– Founding 10 rural business centres
– Managerial training for 300 entrepreneurs
– Founding county agency for rural tourism services
– Inventory and classification of 300 rural farms for agrotourism activities
– Organising 4 annual fairs in every business centre.

The Organisation

Name of NGO: Asociatia Patronilor si Meseriasilor Cluj
(Employers & Craftsmen Association)
Founded in January 9, 1990.
The mission of AA.P.M. Cluj is to protect and to promote the legal professional, socio-economic and cultural rights of membership, supporting the development of the small and medium sized enterprises and freelancers.

1. Type of organisation: NGO, non profit association of employers / entrepreneurs / freelancers

2. Structure of organisation
The organization is structured on inter-county level with 6 branches in every urban center of Cluj County and at least one office in 5 counties.
The County Conference of associated members ensures the supreme leadership of E.C.A. Between conferences, the leadership is ensuring by a Leadership Committee (41 members) and an Executive (15 members). President, President Executive, Secretary General, Program Manager and Economic Manager ensure the administration of E.C.A.

3. A.P.M. Cluj Membership: 2865 (December 31, 2000)
APM Cluj members are freelancers and Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).

4. Employees: 11

5. Address: Str. Avram Iancu nr.52, 3400 Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA.

6. Communication:
- Telefon: 0040 64 430148
- Fax: 0040 64 195793
- E-mail: apsm@rdslink.ro , consafar@rdslink.ro

7. Staff:
- Augustin Fenesan, president
- Gheorghe Ardelean, president-executive
- Petru Tamas, secretary general
- Mircea Olaru Zãinescu, program manager
- Liviu Cuibus, economic manager

8. The organisation offers services of juridical and technical counselling for founding new commercial societies and to authorise the working of familial associations and persons.

9. Publications : « INITIATIVA PARTICULARA » (magazine), « PARTENER 2001 » (newsletter)

10. Programs, events: CENTRAFROM (French-Romanian Business Center), EU-RO PARTNERSHIP 2001
(Business partnership with entrepreneurs from E.U. countries), NMCP (Netherlands Management Cooperation Program), APPERO (Swiss program for economic cooperation), BUSINESS FORUM 2001 (February 22-23, 2001)

Olaru Zãinescu Mircea

AFARURAL Business Center
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