Access to Green Finance for SMEs in Georgia
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in Georgia’s economy. SMEs provide more than 67% of employment and about 62% of gross value added. Although the environmental footprint of individual SMEs may be low, their aggregate impact in many respects exceeds that of large businesses.
Commercial banks have an important role to play in providing access to green finance, particularly for SMEs. This report reviews the experience with green lending in the SME sector in Georgia. The analysis identifies the main challenges with lending to SMEs for green projects and discusses possible solutions. The report, in particular, looks at the role of the government and the policy instruments it can use to stimulate higher demand for green lending in the SME sector.
Also available in: Georgian
Small and medium-sized enterprise policy in Georgia
This chapter analyses the environment for supporting small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development in Georgia, including the importance of the informal sector and different definitions of SMEs. It provides an overview of the emerging policy context for economic development, including priorities for the Social-economic Development Strategy “Georgia 2020” and the National SME Development Strategy 2016-20. It analyses how the government is helping create an enabling environment for expansion of the sector through creation of the Georgian Enterprise Development Agency and Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency. Finally, it identifies opportunities to align energy efficiency, renewable energy and SME sector development.
Also available in: Georgian