EU4Business (EU4BCC) is a project managed by EUROCHAMBRES and funded under the EU4Business initiative of the European Union. The EU4BCC project is due to end in December 2022. The EU4BCC project is being developed in the framework of the Eastern Partnership (EaP), which was launched in 2009 in order to deepen and strengthen relations between the European Union (EU), its Member States and its six Eastern neighbors (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine). EU4Business is an umbrella initiative that covers all EU activities supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the EaP countries. The EU4BCC project aims to support sustainable economic development and job creation in the EaP countries by helping SMEs to grow – especially by promoting increased trade, encouraging inward investment, and fostering business links with companies in the EU.

5 Sectorial Consortia have been selected through a call for proposals. The Consortia are composed of EU and EaP Chambers that have proven expertise in the 5 selected sectors and aim at piloting the implementation of the long-term strategy and the policy recommendations developed by the Board of Experts towards improving the competitiveness of the sector covered. Each consortium has issued its own call in order to assign the implementation of the activities (B2B matching, twinning, study visits) to the partnerships applying for a sub-grant.

Siauliai Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts in a partnership with Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping of Seville, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Armenia, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova are authorized to act as Bio – Food Consortia.

Consortia monitors 12 subgrant schemes for 3rd parties at € 720.000 (maximum, based upon the nature and duration of the activities to be implemented).

Objectives

• Contribute towards the development of sustainable and equitable economic growth models in the EaP countries, which can generate more investments and improve socio-economic conditions and employment opportunities for citizens.
• Support capacity of sectorial Business Support Organizations (BSOs) to enhance EaP SMEs internationalization, export capacities and access to new markets.
• Support SMEs towards trade, more specifically export towards EU countries.

Beneficiaries

• The project will target BSOs from the 6 EaP countries: sectoral organizations, women entrepreneur organizations, chambers with a sectoral focus, clusters; they will work in partnership with their EU counterparts, in a peer-to-peer approach.
• SMEs from the EaP countries will also directly benefit from the actions, especially those with an international potential; they will receive training, coaching and opportunity for matchmaking with business from the EU.

Actions

• Business to Business matching, meant to enhance people to people (SMEs to SMEs) contacts and trade opportunities.
• Study visit, they will offer the possibility to learn “on site” from other BSOs, enhance the understanding and knowledge on EaP within the EU business community as well as vice versa, and offer an opportunity for networking.
• Twinnings (defined as Capacity Building / peer to peer learning for BSOs, Coaching) in order to establish direct links between the EU member states’ BSOs and the EaP BSOs.

More information: Daiva Jonuskiene daiva.jonuskiene@sccic.lt , Inga Medzidoviene inga.medzidoviene@sccic.lt

https://connectingcompanies.eu/

2022-11-10

In response to the global crisis in the food industry, a forum is being organized in Vilnius

Registration for online participation is still open https://forms.gle/RCcUniMp7vPdLDqE7

On November 15, the largest AgroFood Forum in the Baltic States “Taika Mastui” (“Peace for food”) will be held in Vilnius Town Hall. EUROCHAMBRES in cooperation with “AgriFood Lithuania”, other partners and participants, taking into account the destabilization in the economy and food sector also the crisis that has arisen in it, will review the conditions of access to quality food, emerging sustainability problems and possible cooperation ways of EU and EaP in the sector.

The issue of the agri-food crisis is particularly important for the Baltic countries, where the agriculture and food sector constitutes an important part of the GDP and brings annual income to the state budget. After Russia invaded the neighboring Ukraine, the import cooperation of companies was disrupted, that caused a number of changes not only in the food sector but also in the labor market. Due to the high inflation, there is a threat of complete stagnation of the sector.

Todays context makes mission of EU4BCC project – the promotion of sustainable economic development and the creation of jobs in cooperation with the Eastern Partnership countries (EaP) even more important. Reforming their economies by integrating into the global market and enabling to play an important role in it. At the initiative of EUROCHAMBRES Siauliai Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts  in cooperation with Seville Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Shipping as part of BioFood consortium are organising a conference and discussion sessions on projects’ results, possibilities of EU and EaP cooperation, increase in the competitiveness of the Eastern Partnership organic products sector.