
The ODA encourages young people to take part in the Youth Start program.
According to the Enterprise Development Organization, young people between the ages of 18 and 35 can apply to participate. Recall that the new 3-year program "Start for Youth: Sustainable Business at Home" includes 4 support components: training and consultations, a grant, loans with a grant component and monitoring. Unlike the previous program, the maximum grant amount is increased from 180,000 to 200,000 lei, provided that the beneficiary covers at least 30% of the total project cost. A new form of support under the program is loans with a grant component, which will be provided by the ODA jointly with the Office of Foreign Aid Program Management and partner financial institutions. The maximum amount of funding per beneficiary for this type of assistance will be up to 1.76 million lei, of which 85% will be a loan, and 15% a grant from the ODA. The loan will be issued for up to 5 years. Launched by the ODA in February 2019, the Youth Start Program aims to strengthen entrepreneurial skills among young people, facilitate youth access to finance, and motivate them to create new businesses and jobs in rural areas of the country. So far, more than 500 beneficiaries have received assistance under the program. The amount of approved grants amounted to more than 56 million lei, and investment projects, according to preliminary estimates, were able to attract more than 93.6 million lei to the Moldovan economy and create more than 700 jobs. More than 75% of established enterprises are opened in rural areas, and 48% by women. About 7% of project beneficiaries are young people with disabilities. // 28.10.2022 - InfoMarket