DUSHANBE, May 26, 2014, Asia-Plus — The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will launch a new information campaign on the value of external advice for business.
According to the EBRD Resident Office in Dushanbe, the Bank launches its new information campaign on the value of external advice for small and medium-sized businesses at an event in the Hyatt Regency Dushanbe today at 4:00 pm.
Supporting small businesses at the heart of the EBRD’s mandate, and the Bank offers a range of instruments to support them, including providing finance both directly and indirectly through partner banks, and by helping businesses access professional business advice through local consultants and international industry experts.
However, very few small and medium-sized businesses seek out external advice to spur on their growth. They are unsure about the benefits and unclear on what the real outcomes of an advisory project will be. This information campaign, centered on the concept of ‘know-how’, looks at the value of knowledge for business, and how it can help improve a company’s performance. It will be launched across 25 countries, from Southern and Eastern Europe to North Africa, Russia and Central Asia.
The event to launch the campaign is expected to bring together representatives of government, international organizations, financial Institutions, enterprises, consulting companies and the media. The EBRD’s Small Business Support Team will present its activities in Tajikistan, successful projects realized in the 7 years since the team launched in the country and the new information campaign.
“At the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) we provide more than just finance. We also provide business advice to help small and medium-sized businesses grow, succeed, then grow again, becoming genuine catalysts for their local economies, then their region,” says Mr. Richard Jones, Head of EBRD Resident Office in Tajikistan.
The EBRD has been helping small and medium-sized businesses in Tajikistan access external advice since 1997, applying donor funding from Belgium, Canada, the Early Transition Countries Fund, the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund, the European Union, Japan, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Taiwan-EBRD Cooperation Fund and the United States. Over €4.2 million in donor support has been combined with more than €832,000 in contributions from the clients themselves to help around 400 small and medium-sized businesses.
“Innovation, adaptation and investment are all important aspects of growth for small and medium-sized businesses” says Mr. Shaktybek Imashov, Head of Regional Program in Central Asia for the EBRD’s Small Business Support Team.
“Bringing in outside expertise can have a dramatic effect on a company, and this campaign will help make that more widely known.”
