The EBRD's Business Advisory Services Programme (BAS) celebrates 5 years of continuous support to the development of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Moldova.
Since the beginning of its activity in Moldova in 2005, BAS has supported over 250 Moldovan SMEs operating in various sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, food processing, IT, retail trading, apparel industry. The total value of BAS assistance to Moldovan companies is close to €1.4 million.
The support offered by BAS Programme to Moldovan SMEs includes assistance at identifying and defining enterprise business needs, cooperation in selecting the most effective local consultants to address specific business issues faced by enterprises and grant assistance.
BAS Programme is supporting beneficiary companies by reimbursing up to 70 percent of the consultancy project costs, with a limit of €10,000. Furthermore, BAS Moldova helps to boost the competitiveness of Moldovan SMEs by organizing specialized trainings and seminars with participation of high-level international experts.
"SMEs are one of the key vehicles for the development of a healthy economy. Thus, it is very important to assist these companies in order to foster their competitiveness on the market. In this respect, BAS Moldova is operating with well-defined and rigorous criteria when deciding to offer assistance to any SME, therefore ensuring success of all projects funded by the Programme. The success achieved by the BAS projects is measured by the positive improvements brought to the assisted businesses, in terms of optimizing the production process, strengthening the skills of companies' employees, all these being reflected in the increase of company's business figures", said Veronica Arpintin, National Director of BAS Moldova.
Currently Moldova BAS Programme is focusing on promoting implementation of energy efficiency projects, improving business competitiveness in rural areas, and encouraging women entrepreneurs.
The EBRD's BAS Programme started operations in 1995 and has since undertaken about 9,500 projects in 22 countries, mobilizing close to €95 million in donor funding.
