The government has approved an ordinance for the implementation of the Startup Nation – Romania small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) boosting programme, 2024 edition, financed from external funds, Economy Minister Radu Oprea announced on Thursday at the Government House.

According to the minister, funding for the programme will be secured from non-reimbursable external funds related to the Education and Employment Programme 2021 – 2027.

„It is a programme already negotiated with the European Union that has targets. It has two major components: one for the development of entrepreneurship among young people up to 30 years old on funds of EUR 300 million, and the second one targeting people up to 35 years old, in which the Romany minority is also included,” said Oprea .

He added that the programme included financial education and professional training.

„We will have a platform on which accredited companies and training companies will register, so that we can have access to as many people as possible, especially from the target groups. I also want online modules so that we can reach those overseas, so that all those who want to become entrepreneurs in Romania can also use this opportunity. After going through this stage, they will be able to submit projects, and the novelty of this year is the fact that the non-refundable financial allocation will be RON 250,000, instead of RON 200,000, as it used to be so far.”

As far as the professional training courses are concerned, the platform on which they will be offered is estimated to become operational in September, pending the completion of works carried out by the Special Telecommunications Service (STS).

„We had a lot of help from the Competition Council and from the other ministries – the finance, the justice ministries. And I think the projects can be submitted in October. There are still steps to be taken between the Ministry of European Investment and Projects and the Economy Ministry, so that we can conclude the contracts, but these things will take place in the time frame in which entrepreneurs will be able to improve themselves, to take the courses and to set up a company if they think they want to become entrepreneurs in Romania.”

The minister added that figures for the first edition of the programme are „extraordinarily good.”

„We have devised performance indicators for the first and second editions of Startup Nation, which monitoring is already over, and we are in the process of making payments for the third edition. For the first edition, the figures are extraordinarily good, from my point of view. We had investments of RON 1,320,000,000, including RON 420 million coming from European funds, RON 900 million from the national budget. As many as 7,150 enterprises were created and in five years 6,534 enterprises, or 91.39%, are still in business.”

Oprea said that 12,603 jobs were created under this programme, which gives a profitability rate of 151%.

„This means that, through the taxes paid by these companies, in a minimum scenario with 1% tax on turnover and the minimum wage, over RON 460,000,000 in taxes and fees have already been collected,” the minister pointed out.

He added that at the second edition of the programme, in 2018, at the beginning there were 8,092 enterprises, and today 7,848, or 96.99% of them are still in business.

„31,478 jobs were created, they still exist today in all these companies, a profitability rate of 112%; RON 1,770,000,000 were collected in three years in rates and taxes on an initial investment of RON 1,000,573,000,” the minister added.

According to him, the Startup Nation Programme is „a successful project, a flagship project of the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism” calling it „the jolt that entrepreneurs in Romania needed to take the step and fulfil their dreams”. \

AGERPRES