The EU-funded ‘EU4Business: connecting companies’ project is launching a mobility scheme that will sponsor the business exchange between staff from 50 Business Support Organisations (BSO) and 35 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) from the Eastern Partner countries and the EU between February and May 2023. The participants will exchange procedures, tools, and good practices, offering in this way wide networking opportunities.
The exchange between SMEs is expected to last for one month, while the exchange between BSOs can last one or two months.
Due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, applications from Ukrainian SMEs and BSOs will be prioritised. Ukrainian applicants do not need to be in Ukraine at the time of application, nor do they need to leave Ukraine once they have been approved for exchange. If Ukrainian applicants are not in Ukraine, they will have to travel to another country for the exchange.
The deadline for applications is 1 March.
In addition, the following new activities will be developed by the project in 2023:
– BSOs tour
35 TSOs from Eastern Partnership countries will take part in a 5-day mission to establish or expand their network.
– SME Export Academy
A series of webinars will be organised for EaP SMEs to support them in building their export capacity. Among the many activities, the International Trade Centre (ITC) will present the Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk, another EU4Business initiative, a platform to help businesses identify export opportunities and provide access to key information on EU and regional market rules.
– Sector study visits
Study visits involving 25 SMEs from the EaP region will be organised for each of the five sectors covered by the project. The programme provides for 5 days of B2B exchanges and meetings, along with existing international trade fairs.
EU4Business: connecting companies is funded under the EU4Business initiative and implemented by Eurochambres. The project, which has been extended until 2023, aims at boosting sustainable economic development and supporting job creation in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. Through B2B matching, twinning and study visits, SMEs and BSOs from the EaP countries connect with their counterparts in the EU. The project targets specifically five key sectors – wine, bio-and organic food, tourism, textile, and creative industries.
Find out more
Register for the info session on 18 January 2023
CLOSING DATE
March 1, 2023