Cyprus and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed Thursday a €2.2 million agreement to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to increase their competitiveness and growth potential.
EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti and the Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry and Tourism of the Republic of Cyprus, Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, signed the agreement on the final day of the 2017 EBRD Annual Meeting and Business Forum in Nicosia today.
The €2.2 million set aside for small business support come from EU Structural and Investment Funds, made available by the Republic of Cyprus. It is the first agreement of its kind between the EBRD and one of its countries of operations within the EU.
The funding will serve to extend and expand the EBRD advice for Small Businesses programme in the Republic of Cyprus for an additional three years. It will boost the sector, which accounts for more than 80 percent of employment in the country.
As part of the EBRD Small Business Initiative, the programme will assist SMEs to access business advice to improve their competitiveness and boost their growth. Supporting women entrepreneurship and promoting trade will be a focus under the programme, which introduces innovative services including mentoring, training and coaching.
During the ceremony Chakrabarti said he was delighted to be signing this agreement with the Republic of Cyprus. “Small and medium-sized enterprises are vital for the generation of economic growth in Cyprus and the EBRD is contributing to this effort through our Small Business Initiative,” he said.
“SME development is one of the top priorities for the Republic of Cyprus. Boosting their competitiveness and promoting women entrepreneurship are very important to long term growth for the country and we are very pleased to partner in this effort with the EBRD,” Minister Lakkotrypis added.
The EBRD is investing in Cyprus on a temporary basis until 2020. To date, the Bank has invested mote than €220 million in various sectors of the economy, including the financial sector, trade finance, small business support and renewable sources of energy.
