EU launches new phase of EU4Business Facility

The European Union has launched the EU4Business Facility Phase III to support sustainable economic growth of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine.

GOPA Worldwide Consultants, a German-based leader in development consultancy, will manage the initiative for the next four years.

The EU4Business Facility will regularly and comprehensively monitor EU projects that assist private sector development in the EaP region, assess the impact and outcomes of EU4Business regional and bilateral projects, and enhance the visibility and outreach of EU support.

The main objective is to improve coordination with projects under the EU4Business initiative supporting SMEs and to engage key stakeholders, such as entrepreneurs, government agencies and educational institutions, to name a few.

The EU4Business Initiative aims to increase investments and create better socio-economic conditions, ultimately providing more employment and income-earning opportunities for the private sector. This includes support to women entrepreneurs, businesses in rural areas, young entrepreneurs, the green transition of businesses, and access to finances.

In 2021, the EU4Business Initiative offered support to 78,045 SMEs, leading to outstanding results. The supported SMEs generated an extra €2.03 billion of income and facilitated the creation of 66,678 new jobs. SMEs also experienced a notable growth in turnover (+26.23%), and a boost in exports (+11.2%). This was well ahead of the performance of SMEs that did not seek EU4Business help.

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Press release