Creation of franchising co-operation network in Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border region

Short title:  F.A.R. Network

PRIORITY 1: PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Measure 1.1: Promotion of socio-economic development and encouragement of business and entrepreneurship

Beneficiary: Lithuanian Business Employers' Confederation (Vilnius, Lithuania)
Partners: University of Latvia (Riga, Latvia), Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship (Minsk, Belarus)

PROBLEM: a common problem of Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border regions is a lack of information available for foreign franchisors on regions' economic attractiveness for the development of franchise, low level of franchise knowledge among local potential franchisees and lack of inter-organisational network uniting regional business NGOs that would take joint actions to solve these problems collectively.

OBJECTIVES: to establish a sustainable network of organisations co-operating in the field of development of franchising in Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus cross-border region thus facilitating faster economic growth and business co-operation between the 3 countries.

RESULTS&OUTPUTS:
The project partners conducted a wide franchising promotion campaign, aimed at creation of possibilities to apply the franchising as a business model and expand the franchising network for regional economic development. The “Strategy for establishment and development of inter-organisational cooperation network for promotion of franchising”, a unified “Franchise Operation Manual” and a “Guide on Franchising” were developed.
5 specialized trainings for over 100 participants and 3 networking events were organised. International franchising conferences and exhibitions were held in Vilnius, Riga and Minsk.
The academic study course in franchising for universities was developed. The "Franchise Attractiveness of a Region" strategy was published.