CEO EVENT- MATCHING GRANTS PROGRAM
April 25, 2023
Prishtina REA&Weglobal, as impleemntation entity, in cooperation with CERP Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and supported by the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade as well as the World Bank Office in Kosovo, through the Matching Grants Program (MGP) project, organizes the CeO Event, with 141 grant recipients from MGP.
Through this CeO Event, we are bringing the spirit of MGP, business engagement of CeOs from MGP grantee companies, new achievements, business networking and connections to the future, as a partnership!
The Matching Grants Program,financed by MIET, and implemented by Prishtina REA and WEglobal, is financed by the Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade through a soft loan from the World Bank - office in Kosovo. The value of the contracts signed with 141 beneficiaries reaches the amount of 10,032,011.90 Eur.
Grant contracts with selected applying businesses were signed on March 25, 2022, and then 83 annex contracts were signed to extend the implementation period for another three months, ending on June 25, 2023.
These 141 beneficiary businesses implement a total of 396 financed grant activities. The part of the co-financing by the beneficiary businesses reaches the value of 4,748,882.82 Euros, so that in total, the value of the investments reaches the amount of 14,780,894.72 Euros.
Beneficiary businesses come from 25 different municipalities, led by Prizren with 25 beneficiaries, Prishtina with 24, Ferizaj with 14, Peja with 10, Suhareka with 9 beneficiaries, etc. While, from the size of the beneficiary businesses, small businesses dominate, with 56.7%, then micro ones with 26.2% and medium ones with 17.1%. Also, the participation of grantees owned by the female gender is calculated at around 22%.
Another important statistic is the business sector of the beneficiaries, and the metal & PVC processing leads with 23%, wood-furniture processing with 21%, agro-food with 18%, production of construction materials with 6% as well as textiles with 6% etc. Over 365 machines/equipment/production lines and 196 Certifications have already been installed.
So far, out of 396 grant activities, 259 activities have been implemented (or 6.7 million Eur), which make up about 68% of the activities, then 82 activities are currently being implemented - or 20% of the activities (about 1.939.993.99 Eur), and the remaining 55 are expected to start. The value of the activities implemented and the funds already disbursed reach the value of 5,135,902.Eur.
Out of the total of 141 beneficiary businesses, 61 of them have already completed the entire implementation of their projects, while 80 businesses are in the process of implementation.
From these 61 grantees, the growth of their exports reached an average of 47.9% increase, or the value of their exports during the year 2022 reached the value of 39,207,384.62 Euro. And, employment has also marked promising values, with over 242 new employments so far.
The primary impact of MGP is the increase of production/processing/service capacities, high efficiency, increase of product/service quality, application of international certification standards, increase of employee skills, competitiveness and growing potential according to export requirements.
With respect
Project implementation Unit/
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World Bank Group Celebrates 20 Years of Partnership in Kosovo
November 21, 2019
The World Bank Group's office in Kosovo marked last week the 20th anniversary of the World Bank Group's partnership with Kosovo and the 10th anniversary of Kosovo's membership in the World Bank Group institutions, with a reception for institution officials, representatives’ politicians, civil society activists, representatives of chambers of commerce and the private sector.
The guests at the event were addressed with a speech by the Vice President of the World Bank for Europe and Central Asia, Cyril Muller, World Bank Director for the Western Balkans, Linda Van Gelder, IFC Director for Central and Southeast Europe, Thomas Lubeck, and Kosovo's Minister of Finance, Bedri Hamza.
On this occasion, Vice President Muller stated:
“Kosovo and our partnership have come a long way. From rebuilding and normalizing post-conflict life, we are today helping Kosovo transition to more sustainable and inclusive growth. We intend to support this goal by focusing our support in three areas in particular: accelerating private sector growth and job creation, improving public service delivery, and promoting reliable energy.
We can be proud of the results we have achieved together, and many of you have played a key role. We are excited about deepening our partnership with the new authorities to help Kosovo achieve its development goals. "
Kosovo became an official member of the World Bank Group in June 2009 and to date the World Bank has provided approximately $ 500 million in grants and loans, investing in the people and economy of Kosovo.