Fifteen entrepreneurs won grants of up to €18,400 from the European Union to start new businesses and develop small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in ATU Gagauzia and Taraclia. The selected entrepreneurs will also benefit from technical support and business coaching during one year, IPN reports, quoting a press release of UNDP Moldova.
The selected business ideas include vegetable growing in greenhouses, fruit packing and storing, manufacture of bakery products, manufacture of textile materials or metal ware. These businesses will create about 90 new jobs and will supply new high quality goods and services on the local market.
In the grant certificates awarding event, EU Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova Pirkka Tapiola said developing small and medium-sized enterprises is a key factor for economic growth, because SMEs represent the backbone of the economy. This is why the European Union is constantly providing assistance to this sector.
Ana Statova from Congaz village, Comrat district, is one of the 15 winners of the grant competition. She owns a restaurant in her home locality and decided to invest in tourism, since she thinks that this niche has a high potential and has not been explored in their region before. “I have wanted to open a guesthouse for tourists in the national style for a long time now, however, I didn’t have enough funds and I would have never been able to raise them. Now, with the help of the European Union, I will make our locality more attractive for tourists and will create about 14 new jobs for locals,” said the entrepreneur.
Dafina Gercheva, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Moldova, said that by supporting these business initiatives, they want to address the most pressing challenges faced by women and men from ATU Gagauzia and Taraclia district: to have decent jobs and better living conditions.
The second round of the competition for EU grants provided via the “Support for Agriculture and Rural Development in ATU Gagauzia and Taraclia” (SARD) Program started on 1 March, this year. The project proposals may be submitted by 2 May, by filling in an online application form, available here. The winners will receive non-reimbursable financial assistance of up to €18,400.
