EU4Business Week starts in Georgia

EU-Georgia collaborate to boost local businesses

The European Union (EU) is offering a technical and financial assistance package worth more than ˆ62MILLION within the EU4Business Week to assist small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to better access the EU market.

Running from March 21-25, the EU4Business Week will bring together a series of events showcasing the EU's breadth of support and commitment to developing Georgian private enterprises and helping the country benefit from the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deal.

The EU4Business Week in Georgia was launched by the EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom, who visited Georgia’s capital Tbilisi yesterday.

Read Commissioner Malmstrom's blog: Full day in Tbilisi

EU4Business brings together all the EU programs assisting Georgia in its process of economic integration to the EU market, providing a clear sign of the EU's commitment towards SMEs and trade policies in Georgia,” Commissioner Malmstrom said.

The EU4Business Week will include:

The opening of EU4Business Week at a round table involving EU C

ommissioner Malmstrom and representatives of the Georgian business community;

The official launch of the Government’s SME strategy and the 2016 Small Business Act (SBA) Assessment, developed with support of the EU;

The launch of two EU funded projects (total budget of ˆ9.5MILLION) implemented by the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support Georgian SMEs and the DCFTA implementation; and

A multi-day public-private dialogue with organisations that support local businesses, organised by the EU-funded East-Invest Program.

The DCFTA, now operational for 18 months, has strengthened the trade relationship between the EU and Georgia.

Today, the EU is Georgia's first export destination, receiving 29 percent of Georgian exports - an increase of 15 percent in the first year of the trade agreement. Total trade between the two amounted to over ˆ2.5 billion last year.

“One year after the start of the DCFTA, Georgian exports to the EU increased by 15 percent," said the European External Action Service (EEAS). (Agenda.ge)