Small and medium-sized enterprises

Twelve banks have expressed an interest in participating in the Third Entrepreneurship Fund (TEPIX III), a program of the Hellenic Development Bank (HDB), which will leverage around 2.4 billion euros in new loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and which starts after Easter, HDB Chief Executive Ismini Papakirillou announced on Thursday.

The commissioner for state aid control in Cyprus, Stella Michaelides, announced her decision on Wednesday regarding a scheme aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises titled "Circular Economy Project in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)."

Greece must accelerate its transition to the digital age and fulfill the ambitious digital goals set by the European Union up until 2030. Although Greece has recorded a digital leap in the last five years, it still lags the rest of the EU in key areas.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for nearly 71 percent of employment in Türkiye in 2022, according to the numbers from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

Their share in total turnover was 42.5 percent, while accounting for 36.2 percent of production value.

SMEs constituted 99.7 percent of all enterprises.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is providing loans of up to 20 billion yen ($139 million) to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that were affected by the February earthquakes.

The loan agreement was signed between JICA and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization of Türkiye (KOSGEB) in the capital Ankara.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced a financing package of up to $530 million to support thousands of micro and smaller businesses in Turkish provinces devastated by February earthquakes and boost recovery efforts.

Over one in five small and medium-sized enterprises plans to raise their prices of goods or services in the second half of 2023, showing that inflationary pressures will continue for some time to come.

Encouraged by the steps the new economic team has taken over the past two and a half months, Türkiye's exporters have voiced optimism that the target of generating $265 billion in export revenues appears to be within reach.

Greek exports may be setting historic records year after year, but exports largely remain the business of a few large Greek companies. If anything, the road to foreign markets for small and medium-sized enterprises is long and difficult.

Industry Minister Fatih Kacır also announced that the World Bank is providing $450 million in financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region affected by the February earthquakes.

"The financing will be provided to the SMEs which were damaged in the quakes. But also, the SMEs which suffered revenue losses will be entitled to the financing," he said.