OECD Names Georgia as a Model Country for Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises

OECD Names Georgia as a Model Country for Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises

The statement was made during the roundtable discussion of the OECD Eurasia Week in Paris, where the Georgian delegation was also present.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development praised Georgia’s efforts towards implementing the SME development Strategy and related plans, as well as efforts towards implementing the recommendations provided by the OECD and considers them a success. As a result, Georgia has been recognized as a “model country”.

The statement was made during the roundtable discussion of the OECD Eurasia Week in Paris, where the Georgian delegation was also present. The delegation was led by the Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ekaterine Mikabadze.

During the roundtable discussion, the deputy minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Ekaterine Mikabidze stated that developing SMEs is one of the priority areas for the Georgian government’s economic policy. “Business sector and particularly SMEs play an important role in economic development, whilst at the same time support sustainable and inclusive growth. Developing the SME sector can contribute to creating jobs and increasing employment as well as speeding up economic growth. The government is continuously working towards creating new instruments in order to increase SME’s access to financial resources. The Credit Guarantee mechanism and credit programmes for SMEs are some of the most effective and widely used mechanisms for improving SME’S access to financial resources. The abovementioned mechanisms support increasing lending, which in itself has a positive impact on economic growth. We believe that the Credit Guarantee mechanism is an important instrument for developing Small and Medium Business sector, which improves the chances of accessing finances for the SMEs. I would like to also emphasize that the credit guarantee scheme aims to encourage female entrepreneurs” – Stated Ekaterine Mikabadze.