The cabinet of ministers on Thursday approved an action plan for the provision of incentives seeking to boost mergers and acquisitions between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

As stated after the cabinet session by Minister of Finance Makis Keravnos, the aim is to provide a decisive boost to business development through these incentives.

The Finance Minister highlighted that “the development of our businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, is one of the priorities of the Nikos Christodoulides administration.”

He further explained that due to Cyprus’ size, the percentage of small and medium-sized enterprises represents 93 per cent of the total.

“This size creates problems and obstacles in the development of our businesses, as it impacts their competitiveness and their ability to achieve economies of scale,” Keravnos explained.

What is more, he noted that “with the plan approved today by the Cabinet of Ministers, significant incentives will be provided for collaborations among businesses in various ways, aiming to provide a decisive boost to their growth”.

The actions included in the plan are organised into three axes, according to the Minister of Finance.

They concern, firstly, a comprehensive support framework and a change in the culture of mergers and acquisitions of businesses.

They also involve the modernisation of the legislative framework and reducing bureaucracy in order to improve and simplify the procedures required for this purpose.

The third axis focuses on access to funding and promoting mergers and acquisitions in specific sectors of the economy.

Finally, Keravnos stated that the Cabinet of Ministers has decided to extend the subsidy for electricity from the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) to vulnerable groups by another month, “thus giving another one-month extension to the scheme and at the same time assisting in the pricing of this issue, where a minor problem had arisen”.