TUESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2001

FORGING NEW PARTNERSHIPS

Highland Opportunity Limited, the enterprise trust owned by The Highland Council, has started work with Polish partners under an EU-funded assistance programme for pre-accession countries. The partners are the Podlaska Regional Development Foundation (PRDF), based in Bialystok in North East Poland.

 

Highland Opportunity is providing PRDF with advice and experience on how to create a revolving loan fund to finance small businesses and entrepreneurs. This is an area in which Highland Opportunity has excelled over the last 15 years, creating or preserving some 2,700 jobs in the Highlands from around £4 million of loans.

 

A party of four business advisors, led by Robert Girejko, Vice President of PRDF visited Inverness earlier this month. They met the staff of Highland Opportunity, and visited businesses throughout the Highlands, which have prospered from the support given by Highland Opportunity. A series of visits to Poland is planned over the coming months where Highland Opportunity staff will help to develop the plans and working procedures for the PRDF revolving loan fund and assist in training the local Polish staff.

 

David Owen, Company Manager of Highland Opportunity Limited, said "The visit by PRDF to Inverness was a great success. We can now look forward to a constructive working relationship in Poland and perhaps forge some long term bonds between the Highlands and the Podlaska region."