MINSK, 4 March (BelTA) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide €10 million to Belarus in 2016 for the implementation of the program Women in Business, Francis Delaey, head of the EBRD office in Belarus, told journalists before the official launch of the program in Minsk on 4 March, BelTA has learned.
“The program Women in Business is already running in 16 countries. We hope that 10,000 women entrepreneurs will get advisory assistance and advance their business to the next level. As for funding, Belarus will receive €10 million in 2016 for the implementation of the program,” Francis Delaey said.
National Program Manager at EBRD Small Business Support for Belarus Olga Kuznetsova explained that project funding is only one area of the Women in Business program. “I would like to note that we are ready to cooperate with local Belarusian banks and provide them with credit lines. The EBRD plans to earmark $55 million for six Eastern Partnership countries. Besides, the European Union will give more than €5 million to local banks in technical assistance to enhance the attractiveness of such loans,” she noted.
When speaking about tools to support women entrepreneurs, Olga Kuznetsova pointed out that business advice is among the most important ones. “Thanks to the funding provided by donors, including the Swedish government, the EU, the EBRD, and the Early Transition Countries Fund, we are ready to partially finance the consulting projects. Besides, the program incudes a system of training and mentoring events to help women develop entrepreneurship skills. The events are themed around leadership, financial management, corporate management, and online marketing,” Olga Kuznetsova added. There are plans to set up a mentoring institute for women entrepreneurs, and organize regular meetings to exchange experience and best practices.
Olga Kuznetsova noted that the program will run till 2017. “However, provision of financing to banks is a more long-lasting process, there are no time constraints. We are ready to cooperate with businesses from different sectors. We have something to offer to already existing companies and start-ups. The interested enterprises can ask the bank to choose a tool that will suit them best,” the national program manager said.
The program Women in Business was launched during the first Belarusian Entrepreneurship Week that opened in Minsk on 29 February.
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