A new 3-year program "Start for Youth: A Sustainable Business at Home" has been launched.
The Organization for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises Sector in Moldova (ODIMM) together with the Ministry of Economy have launched a new phase of the program, designed for young people aged between 18 and 35 to receive assistance for business start-up and development (purchase of equipment, software, consulting services, etc.). The first grant contracts were signed July 5 with 51 beneficiaries. The program includes 4 support components: training and consulting, grants, loans with a grant component, and monitoring. Unlike the previous program, there will be an increase of the maximum amount of grant - from 180,000 to 200,000 lei, provided that the beneficiary covers at least 30% of the total cost of the project. A new form of support under the program - loans with a grant component, which will be provided by the ODIMM together with the Office for External Assistance Programs Management and partner financial institutions. The maximum amount of financing for one beneficiary under this type of assistance is up to 1.76 million lei, 85% of which will be the loan, and 15% - the grant from ODIMM. The loan will be issued for up to 5 years. The program implementation will require at least 20 million lei annually. Funds will be allocated from the state budget, as well as local and foreign donors. Young entrepreneurs, who have passed one of the ODIMM courses for start-ups in the last 3 years, can apply for the grant. During the next 3 years of the program, at least 600 young people will improve their entrepreneurial skills, 350 people will open a business, at least 300 will receive funds, which will allow attracting 100 million lei in the economy and creating 350 jobs (half of them in the villages of Moldova). At least 10% of the financial component will be provided for innovations and sustainable development. Let us remind that the "Start for Youth" program, launched by ODIMM in February 2019, aims to support the entrepreneurial spirit and consolidation of entrepreneurial skills among young people, encourage young people to create new businesses, facilitate access to finance, motivate innovation, technology transfer and know-how to create new businesses and jobs in rural areas of the country. So far, 500 beneficiaries have received assistance under the program, including 400 investment projects. The sum of approved grants amounts to 56.3 million lei, and the investment projects, according to preliminary evaluations, have brought additional 93.6 million lei into the Moldovan economy and created 700 jobs. More than 75% of the established enterprises were opened in rural areas, and 48% of them were created by women. About 7% of the project beneficiaries are young people with disabilities. // 05.07.2022 - InfoMarket
