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Women in Business Programme

Information about the Women in Business Programme

Government Decision No. 1064 of 16.09.2016 on the approval of the "Women in Business" Programme details.

The aim of the Programme is to provide financial and non-financial support by awarding grants for investments and services relevant to business development by women.


The Programme is aimed at achieving the following objectives:

  1. Increase economic opportunities for women by reducing barriers to starting or developing a business;
  2. Facilitating access to investment and business development assistance for women-run businesses, designed to complement the financial and non-financial support currently available to women entrepreneurs in the Republic of Moldova;
  3. Creating an integrated national support model for women entrepreneurship development, covering different stages of business development: from business planning (start-up) - to newly created businesses to growing businesses;
  4. Strengthening the national support infrastructure for MSMEs, by expanding the services offered in order to reduce the specific obstacles women face in business;
  5. Contributing to the implementation of priority policies on gender equality and economic development.

The programme is aimed at women planning to start or expand their businesses, particularly in rural areas, and will support women entrepreneurs at 2 different stages of business development:

Eligibility criteria:

  • Female, citizen of the Republic of Moldova;
  • Intends to start her own business in the Republic of Moldova or to develop her existing business.

Programme components: The programme has three basic components. They represent an integrated approach to services for the long-term development of women-run businesses. This integrated approach addresses the different support needs that women face throughout the business life cycle.

The main features of each stage of support are:

Component I of the Programme is designed for the training stage, with the possibility of planning and starting a viable business. By participating in Component I of the Programme, beneficiaries will be supported through:

  1. Familiarisation with the tools and methods for planning and developing a business and how to use them;
  2. Identifying the types of resources needed to launch the business;
  3. Matching the business idea with the identified resources;
  4. Understand the application and negotiation processes with funding institutions;
  5. Guidance in developing the business plan.

Activities under Component I involve the following support:

  1. Training to develop entrepreneurial skills;
  2. One-to-one consultancy and mentoring in business start-up and development;

To participate in Component I of the Programme, the applicant must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. Female, citizen of the Republic of Moldova;
  2. Plans to set up and register her business within 12 months of applying to the Programme.
  3. Be directly responsible for the implementation of the business idea with which she applies to the Programme;

The application to Component I of the Programme is made by filling in the electronic Participation Form on the official website of the ODA - www.oda.md. 

By participating in Component II of the Programme, beneficiaries will obtain the following non-reimbursable financial support for:

  1. small-scale investments;
  2. business development services aimed at making investments more efficient.

To participate in Component II of the Programme, the company must meet the following eligibility criteria:

  1. It is classified as a Small and Medium Enterprise under the terms of Law no. 179 of 21.07.2016;
  2. Created and managed by woman/s (founder/s, co-founder/s, partners, administrator), citizen of the Republic of Moldova;
  3. Registered on the territory of the Republic of Moldova in accordance with the legislation in force within less than 24 months from the date of application to the Program;
  4. Is registered under one of the following organizational-legal forms:
    • Sole proprietorship/Individual entrepreneur;
    • Limited liability company;
    • Production cooperative;
    • Peasant (farmer's) farm;

      e. At the date of application, no debts to the national public budget are registered.

The maximum amount of non-reimbursable funding under Component II will not exceed 165 000 lei/beneficiary, of which:

  • 110 000 lei - constitutes non-reimbursable financing for the purchase of the following investment items:
  1. New technological equipment, machinery and working tools;
  2. Measuring, control and regulating equipment necessary for carrying out the enterprise's activities;
  3. Building materials for the modernisation and/or extension of the premises where the enterprise carries out its activities (no more than 10% of the increase in the investment grant);
  4. Software needed to make the enterprise's work more efficient (e.g. Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Cloud, 1C, etc.);
  5. Procurement of initial stock of raw materials (no more than 10% of the size of the investment grant).
  • 55 000 lei - constitutes non-reimbursable funding for the purchase of business development services. The development services package will be included in the submitted Business Plan and will be assessed by the UI PFA in consultation with the Evaluation Committee in the context of the business development need.

The amount of the non-reimbursable financial allocation is a maximum of 90% of the total value of the investment project and may not exceed the amount of 165 000 lei/beneficiary;

Application to Component II of the Programme is made by filling in the electronic application form on the official website of the ODA - www.oda.md.