€44mln EU funding driving SME growth, innovation in Georgia - EU Delegation

The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia on Friday said the EU had invested €44 million through its EU4Business initiative last year to support the growth and development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the country.

Over 39,000 SMEs in Georgia were successfully supported through 50 projects last year alone [...] There was a notable 12.8 percent increase in turnover among the supported SMEs, which resulted in the creation of almost 37,000 new jobs. Additionally, these businesses generated an extra €200 million in income, showcasing the effectiveness of the initiative in stimulating economic growth”, the body said.

EU support was structured around three main pillars:

1. Access to finance: €2 million invested (52.9% of the total budget) to support concessionary loans, microfinancing, and financial literacy training for SMEs;
2. Business development services: €9 million invested (24.8% of the budget) for direct advice, training, and the development of business clusters, fostering entrepreneurship and innovation;
3. Business enabling environment: €7 million invested (22.2% of the budget) to promote regulatory reform, improve policy making capacities, and encourage public-private dialogue, creating a more favourable business environment.

The resulting key achievements of last year were as follows:

• 39,072 Georgian SMEs benefited from various forms of support, including consultancy services, access to finance, and capacity-building programmes
  36,973 new jobs were created within EU-supported SMEs
• 458 EU-supported SMEs started exporting their products, contributing to a 6.8 percent increase in overall exports
• 17,275 SMEs received loans
• 371 SMEs received grants
• Four percent of supported enterprises are owned or managed by women, advancing gender equity in business
• A 26.5 percent increase in staff among EU-supported SMEs

Nicholas Cendrowicz, the Head of Cooperation of the EU Delegation in Georgia, said over 100,000 SMEs had benefited from EU support between 2021 and 2023.