The OCEEA's efforts of fostering sustainable economic growth and stability focus on the development of an investment-friendly environment and the strengthening of institutional capacity for entrepreneurship and small-and-medium-sized-enterprises (SMEs).

To facilitate sharing of information and exchange of best practices on investment promotion and SME development, the OCEEA has developed the OSCE Best-Practice Guide on Investment and Business Climate. The Guide has been widely distributed to relevant actors in the OSCE region and published in English, Russian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Albanian and Montenegrin (see link under publications).

Capacity-building workshops on the topics of the Guide have been held in South Eastern Europe, South Caucasus, Central Asia and western CIS.

The OCEEA is continuing its work to promote the establishment of attractive investment and business conditions in the OSCE region - a task that has become even more important in the current economic climate.
In addition, the OCEEA is working closely with the OSCE field operations to promote the sustainability of economic opportunities and to

­ - help enhance business development
­ - stimulate job creation and
­ - establish legitimate income generating opportunities for vulnerable population groups, including the unemployed.

Activities:

• Promotion of OSCE Best-Practice Guide on Investment and Business Climate and its topics through capacity building workshops.
• Engagement in capacity building to facilitate institutional reform and effective policy development.
• Support to the OSCE field presence activities in the area of entrepreneurial training, regulatory reform, investment promotion, entrepreneur start-up and business infrastructure development.