EBRD AND EU TO STRENGTHEN MONGOLIAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS

Ulaanbaatar/MONTSAME/ On December 18, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) launched a new initiative to strengthen Mongolian Business Membership Organizations (BMOs). The initiative is implemented in coordination with the Mongolian Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry and complements similar initiatives implemented in the previous years. The 2017-2019 'Building Effective Business Membership Organizations (BMOs) in Mongolia' project is part of the Small Business Initiative of EBRD and funded by the European Union. On December 18, Irina Kravchenko, Head of Resident Office of EBRD in Mongolia, officially launched the initiative in the presence of the associations selected for support, the consultants that support the initiative as well as various guests. EBRD supports BMOs since 2014, at that time focusing on organizational strategy development for 16 - mostly rural - associations. The new initiative, that is to support twelve BMOs for around 18 months focuses on creating and enabling environment for SME by supporting selected business membership organizations in improving their effectiveness and efficiency by achieving goals related to organizational strategy, advocacy, managerial capacity and development of new services. After an intense joint assessment phase during which the associations assess them with the assistance of local and international consultants, the associations will be assisted and coached in developing action plans for improvement. As of May 2018, a series of workshops, conferences and individual consultancy and coaching sessions will enable associations to improve membership base, develop new services and strengthen their financial sustainability. The EBRD has contracted APPLICATIO Training & Management GmbH and ICON Institute of Germany to implement the activities, which started December 18 with an official opening event. Both companies have been working in Mongolia for several donor organizations since the early 1990s. More than 10 Mongolian experts and numerous international experts are involved in the program. Source: EBRD