Specific objectives
* Promote entrepreneurship to generate new businesses and employment opportunities.
* Improve productivity through the promotion of innovation in growing MYPYMES.

Priorities
Priority 1: Promote inclusion by focusing on supporting entrepreneurship projects or MYPYMES run by (or with a high participation of) young people and women, especially indigenous people living in rural areas (especially where there are high indices of poverty, unemployment and recurrent migration). But also people with disabilities
Priority 2: Support the economic and employment reactivation of COVID-19 post-pandemic taking into account and in line with the “Plan for the Economic Recovery of Guatemala” presented by MINECO in September 2020 (available in: https://www.mineco.gob.gt/).

Among financed actions 
-Support for entrepreneurial processes in Guatemala (including ecological/green, creative ventures in the orange economy, in the social and solidarity economy, etc.).
– Support for innovation in products and/or processes to provide greater added value and improve the productivity of MSMEs
– Introduction of new technologies and/or applied research and development to improve the productivity of MSMEs.
– Promotion of “green jobs” and the incorporation of cleaner production processes (resource efficiency, clean technologies and energy efficiency), environmentally friendly production systems or circular economy projects in MSMEs.
– Digitization of productive activities/provision of services to improve the productivity of MSMEs.
– Promotion of commercial links of MSMEs for their incorporation into local, national, regional or international value chains.
– Financial support to entrepreneurs and/or MSMEs.

Additionnal information 
*This call of proposals is an open call of proposals 

*Initial duration of the action: 36 months 

Eligibility
– Be a legal entity; and
– Be non-profit making; and
– Be established in a Member State of the European Union or in Guatemala, in one of the IPA II beneficiary states, in one of the countries of the European Economic Area, in developing countries and territories (included in the OECD/DAC list of ODA recipients) that are not members of the G20, in Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) covered by Council Decision 2013/755/EU of 25 November 2013 on the association of the overseas countries and territories with the European Union; and
– Be directly responsible, with their co-applicants and other affiliated entities, for the preparation and management of the action and not merely act as an intermediary; and
– Be an organisation that promotes entrepreneurship, or that supports innovation in MSMEs, or an intermediary business and enterprise organisation.

Amount of the grant: between 747.750 and 1 million and 495.000 euros 
Co-financing rate: 85% of total eligible costs