- Funding Programme
- Year
- 2021
Creation of a National Promotion Agency
On behalf of the European Commission and the Ministry of Finance the project aimed to support the creation of a National Promotional Agency (“NPA”) for the country.
Context
The vast majority of businesses in Cyprus are SMEs, contributing a relatively large share to the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA). An important determinant for the development of an SME is having proper access to finance.
Recognizing the likelihood of market failures in the SME access to finance in Cyprus, the European Commission called for expert advice towards the creation of an NPA via a public tender process. The NPA’s mission will be to address market failures in SMEs’ access to capital and to promote the Government policy objectives.
Support delivered
The project included a comprehensive market assessment for the identification of the underlying market failures, partly conducted via a large-scale survey to SMEs and numerous interviews with key stakeholders such as investors and debt financiers. In light of the market failures identified, the investment strategy of the NPA was formulated, along with its legal & organizational structure, IT strategy and workforce plan. Lastly, a comprehensive roadmap to implementation of the NPA was developed, by taking into account all of the aforementioned elements of the study.
Results achieved
The NPA is expected to improve SME access to finance, both in terms of their general financing needs as well as in the areas of energy efficiency and digitalization in line with EU policy priorities.
More about the project
You can read the documents related to the project here: