In order to support the financing of the projects of SMEs in the fields of education, science, research and support, the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SME) has allocated a grant of AZN 374,488 to 21 projects in January-June 2024.
So far, 5 grant competitions have been organized to support the financing of the projects of SMEs in the fields of education, science, research and support. Grant support in the amount of 1,426,955 manats was provided to 79 of the projects submitted to these competitions.
The next, 6th grant competition will be held in the second half of 2024.
Holding grant competitions, project expertise, financing, monitoring and accountability issues in accordance with the "Regulation on financing education, science, research and support projects related to the development of micro, small and medium entrepreneurship" approved by the Decision of the Cabinet of Ministers dated September 30, 2020 , performed. According to the rule, the projects submitted to the competition are evaluated by the Expert Commission consisting of 7 people representing various public and private institutions. Projects in accordance with the 14 criteria defined by the relevant regulation (impact of the project on the development of micro, small and medium enterprises, innovativeness, justified idea, possibilities of application for practical purposes, availability of the necessary experience and material and technical base for the implementation of the project, etc.), 1- It is evaluated according to a 5-point system, and the final decision on the results of the projects' expertise is approved by a simple majority vote. The main purpose of the expertise is to evaluate the content of the projects submitted to the competition and the possibilities of their implementation, and to determine the appropriateness of their financing. The projects with the highest results evaluated collegially by the Expert Commission are declared the winners of the competition, and the Agency decides on the financing of those projects.
The selection of projects is carried out by KOBIA in compliance with the principles of transparency, equality, efficiency and effectiveness. The results of the competition, including information about the winning SME entity, its project and the allocated grant, are posted on the Agency's website. Projects that do not win in grant competitions can be submitted to the next competitions by improving them. Also, it is possible to benefit from the support of SME development centers of the Agency in the preparation of project documents. The progress of the implementation of all the granted projects is checked and monitored by the Monitoring Group established by the Agency.
