The Kingdom of Norway has provided 200,000 Euros to finance projects for which business support entities in partnership with the local self-governments can apply until 12 December
Representatives of more than 30 business support organizations and local governments learned the details of the public call for proposals for small business support projects in Montenegro during information sessions held on 9 November in Podgorica and 11 November in Bijelo Polje. The Kingdom of Norway has provided 200,000 Euros to finance projects for which business incubators and hubs, research centers, academic institutions, business support civil society organizations, business associations, development agencies and other eligible entities supporting the development of small businesses on a non-profit basis in partnership with local governments can apply until 12 December.
Through this public call, support is targeted at small businesses from the sectors of sustainable agriculture and the food production chain, sustainable and health tourism, information technology, manufacturing and creative industries.
"The Ministry of Economic Development is a partner of the project "Norway for You - Montenegro" in the second phase of implementation, while the project has already achieved positive results during the first phase, highly significant at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is very important that the project builds on the activities of the Ministry, which relate to supporting the economy, i.e. small and medium enterprises. The project is also important as the support is focused primarily on lesser developed municipalities in the north of Montenegro," the Head of the Directorate for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises of the Ministry of Economic Development Ivana Zečević said.
Business support entities should submit project proposals that will enable specific small businesses to digitalise production and sales, contribute to reducing the negative impact on the environment, capacity building for greater resilience, introduction of new technologies in production, marketing, branding and expansion into new markets, introduction of different standards and training to find different sources of funding and build the capacity of business support entities.
"The second phase of the project started in August 2021, since we are working mostly on the diversification of the economy in Montenegro and economic growth. Our primary objective is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the support provided to the development and transformation of micro, small and medium enterprises," the “Norway for You - Montenegro” Project Manager Armen Čekić said.
The proposed project activities can last a maximum of nine months, for which between 25,800 and 43,000 Euros can be granted, while the financial participation of organizations is not mandatory. All call details and application forms are available on the website of the project "Norway for you - Montenegro".