The European Union, within the framework of supporting a sustainable, innovative, green and competitive economy of Moldova, will provide direct support to 50 thousand SMEs with total financial assistance up to 500 million euros.
As InfoMarket was informed in the European Commission, this is envisaged by the EU's flagship initiatives for Moldova within the framework of a new investment and economic plan for EU cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries for the coming years. The EU notes that Moldova's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, and encouraging and diversifying access to finance and increasing export capacity will be key to supporting economic agents. In parallel with this, digitalization is becoming an increasingly important condition for sustainable economic competitiveness. The EU intends to encourage special regional incubator / pre-accelerator initiatives to support the digitalization of SMEs with a particular focus on digital startups. It is planned that they will be able to take advantage of free and open access to data and services of the EU space programs Copernicus and Galileo. Likewise, the rollout of the newly developed national broadband strategy will be supported. It is assumed that from 2021 the EU will launch programs to improve the overall competitiveness of the Moldovan economy, with an emphasis on green and digital transition. The aim is to directly support 50 thousand Moldovan SMEs and self-employed people. As noted, The Moldovan Organization for SMEs Development (ODIMM) will play a key role in this matter. Total support for Moldovan SMEs is estimated at up to 500 million euros in access to finance (in local currency, sustainable funding and women's participation in business). The EU will use 32 different instruments to support this task through grants, loans, guarantees, blending. // 06.07.2021 – InfoMarket
