Business Support Centre – Cyprus

Description

The European Office of Cyprus (EOC) has become, since 1 January 2015, an official partner of the “European Centre of Business Support in Cyprus”, together with the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and the Research Promotion Foundation (RPF) which coordinates the project.

The European Business Support Centre in Cyprus is a member of the “Enterprise Europe Network” and it will be a reporting mechanism providing advisory services for the development of competitiveness and innovation of Cypriot enterprises.

The project is funded by the COSME programme for the period 2015-2020.

Take-up of European funding by Cypriot SMEs is below the EU average, as many SMEs lack the expertise and experience to draft applications and the requisite business plan.

The EOC by providing advice, support and information services focusing on EU programmes, policies and legislation that are relevant to the SMEs, will play a significant role in raising awareness about the existing opportunities and will enhance the participation of SMEs in European projects, especially in the fields of research and innovation.

The European Centre for Entrepreneurial Support in Cyprus will play an important role in the following issues:

• Ensure access of SMEs to the existing information on the functioning of the internal market and the relevant opportunities.
• Provide feedback from SMEs for policy development and impact assessment.
• Provide support to businesses for crossborder cooperation.
• Dissemination of information and raising awareness of policies on innovation, legislation and support programmes.
• Promotion of the research projects’ results.
• Provide brokerage services for technology and knowledge transfer.
• Create partnerships between innovation actors.