Start for Young People Programmme of Moldova to introduce new mechanisms of support, development

Chisinau, 11 May /MOLDPRES/ - The 2022 year has been declared the European Year of Youth and Moldova’s government and subordinated institutions come up with a string of instruments of support and empowering of young people. The acting director of the Organization for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises Sector Development (ODIMM), Dumitru Pintea, made statements to this effect at a news conference on the matter today.     

„ODIMM, by common consent with the Economics Ministry, is in the process of adjusting and developing new mechanisms of young people’s empowering. Or, the Start for Young People Programme comes up with novelties, which means that, beginning with the next week, the programme will be extended for another three years. Also, the programme’s implementation will be changed, which envisages, first of all, an increase in the grant’s value up to  200,000 lei for entrepreneurs willing to start businesses and who want to try to do a business for the first time ever,’’ Pintea noted.       

According to Pintea, the procedure of enforcement will be simplified too. ‘’We will give up the way of appeal and will make it a continuous process, starting from the next month. We will adjust also the training mechanism, involving guiding and mentorship, which young people need more,’’ the ODIMM head specified.    

At the same time, the term of application for financing for those who have already trained within ODIMM will be extended from one to three years. At the same time, private people, who do not have a company for the time being, but who are to register it, will be able to apply as well. A novelty is also the introduction of the credit system with grant component.   

As for the beneficiaries of the Start for Young People Programme, they will people with ages between 18 and 35 years, citizens of Moldova, who want to start businesses.    

„The need of adjusting and extending this programme comes from the wish we see in young people to develop a business. Since the beginning of this year, 180 people have registered at the programme’s training component and 160 people who have already come up with investment projects and who want to get the state’s financial support,’’ Dumitru Pintea said.  

The START FOR YOUNG PEOPLE national programme: a sustainable business at home, was launched in February 2019 and has the goal to develop the entrepreneurial spirit among young people and encourage the starting of a business, especially in rural areas, through facilitating the access to financial resources, training, consultancy and mentorship in the business’ management and extension. In May 2011, the government ruled to extend this programme.