“…TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FOR INVESTMENT PROJECTS…”
Young entrepreneurs continue facing obstacles in accessing credit lines and expertise to grow their businesses, despite their potential for innovation. To address these market gaps and, therefore, provide financial and technical assistance for youth-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently launched its Youth in Business Programme in the Western Balkans in Belgrade on 1 November.
It aims at promoting youth entrepreneurship and enhancing youth participation across the region through a holistic approach; and reflects the multi-faceted challenges of young people, including two interlinked components, i.e. access to finance and access to know-how, through advisory services in the form of consultants, e-learning and training.
In detail, young business owners and managers will be offered access to tailored advisory services to help them develop new skills, improve business performance and unlock new growth opportunities; and by facilitating other non-financial opportunities for youth, including mentoring, networking and access to educational resources, the Programme will be able to fill an underserved need in the marketplace, and thus build leadership capacity.
This activity is co-financed by the CEI Fund at the EBRD contributed by Italy with 1.5 million EUR under its Technical Cooperation Programme. It envisages the provision of a total of 100 million EUR from the EBRD to local banks in the six countries of the region.
For more info: dovier@cei.int
