EU programme launched for Turkish Cypriot businesses

The European Commission on Wednesday announced the launch of a new programme aimed at supporting Turkish Cypriot businesses.

The project will allow Turkish Cypriot small and medium-sized businesses and startups to access grants, we well as training, mentoring and business development programmes.

It was launched in collaboration with German international development company Giz international services, and has a total budget of €4 million, which has been procured from the EU’s aid programme for the Turkish Cypriot community.

The commission said the project will “focus on the integration of Turkish Cypriot companies into the island’s economy and the European single market”, while also “reducing the gap between production standards in the Turkish Cypriot community and the rest of the European Union”.

“The competitiveness of businesses will be strengthened … by upgrading their levels of digitisation and improving the sustainability of their production processes,” they said.

They added that the project will also help to ensure that goods and services provided by Turkish Cypriot companies will be able to be traded over the Green Line and comply with European standards.

Information regarding upcoming grants and opportunities which will be made available by the programme will be accessible on the EU’s Infopoint website, abbilgi.eu.