Sometimes there are token gestures……and then others there are gestures which are just completely bloody pointless dear readers.
Here is a completely bloody pointless gesture from the EU……
Interfax-Ukraine The European Commission has issued a call for proposals for new regional investment and trade facilitation project EAST-INVEST for Eastern Partnership countries, the press service of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine has reported.
EAST-INVEST with a budget of EUR 7 million is intended to contribute to the economic development of the Eastern Neighborhood region and to the improvement of its business environment by facilitating networks between EU and Eastern Neighborhood region public and private organizations.
The new trade facilitation project will aim to encourage new flows of foreign direct investments and to strengthen the investment promotion process between the EU and the Partner Countries, as well as between the Eastern Neighbors.
Also EAST-INVEST project foresees: strengthening a public-private dialog by integrating SMEs, business facilitators and selected public-sector SME facilitators into the networking mechanisms; facilitating exchange of best practices and interconnections between EU and Eastern Neighborhood companies in order to favor business co-operation agreements, mutual trade, transfer of technology, customs procedures, product standards, and investment; developing the capacity of Eastern Neighborhood SME support organizations.
The Eastern Partnership consists of the following countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
Indeed dear readers, 6 nations and a massive Euro 7 million to spend. What a massive difference Euro 1.2 million will make to each nation if it is even shared equally. One of the good lady’s companies, www.odessa-pa.com could well fall into the category of “business facilitator” and is certainly an SME, but to actually make any more of a dent in the marketplace that it already does would take a fair slice of the Euro 1.2 million Ukraine would recieve if the money was allocated evenly.
What could be far more useful for such a concept would be actually holding this event in Brussels or a major European city, sponsored by the EU and inviting SME’s from the six nations in question to actually show their worth to Europeans who don’t know 99.999% of them exist whilst the EU keeps control of the money instead of just handing it over to some corrupt official in any of these nations to simply pocket hidden by a trail of false accounting and expenditure.
Then again, the EU is currently Euro 14 billion behind in honouring it’s existing pledges, so this could well be another nice idea backed up by…….well, nothing!
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