FOSTER Project Supports SMEs in Their Recovery from the Earthquake
The conditions have been relieved for beneficiary SMEs in six provinces affected by the earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023, within Employment Committed SME Finance Support Programme and Employment Committed SME Support Programme of Empowering the Private Sector to Foster Social and Economic Cohesion in Türkiye (FOSTER) Project which is financed by the European Union, managed by KfW Development Bank and implemented by KOSGEB.
SMEs operating in Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis and Şanlıurfa will recover from the earthquake with the support within the Employment Committed SME Finance Support Programme and Employment Committed SME Support Programmes.
Employment Committed SME Finance Support Programme
Revision in 50% Job Creation Criterion in Six Provinces!
The requirement that at least half of the jobs committed shall be created, will be skipped in the earthquake affected project provinces, namely Adana, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, Kahramanmaraş and Hatay. Loan recipient SMEs within Interest Rate / Profit Share Subsidy Mechanism in these six provinces will be free to fulfil their commitments through job retention or job creation.
Flexibility in SSI Premium Days
A minimum of 60 SSI premium days must be paid for the new employee in the relevant quarter in order for them to qualify as a “job creation” under the Programme. The condition is revised for the SMEs in earthquake affected provinces as “at least 30 SSI premium days shall be paid for the new employee in respective quarter” instead of 60 days. SMEs that make the 30 SSI premium days payment for each “retained” or “created” employment in respective quarter will be deemed to fulfil the employment commitment. There will be no control and comparison of the previous year’s average SSI premium days paid for retained employees.
Environmental & Social Compliance Monitoring Will Not Be Conducted Until August 31st!
Monitoring for the Environmental and Social Compliance that has been planned to be conducted in Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis and Şanlıurfa will not be conducted between February 6, 2023 and August 31, 2023.
Flexibility in Exclusion Criteria
SMEs failing to fulfil their employment commitments for two consecutive quarters are excluded from the Employment Committed SME Finance Support Programme. The amendment extends the exclusion period for the beneficiary SMEs in six provinces to four consecutive quarters (or twelve consecutive months).
Employment Committed SME Support Programme
Revision in Job Creation Criteria in Six Provinces
The requirement that at least half of the jobs committed shall be created, will be skipped in six earthquake affected project provinces; namely Adana, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Kilis, Kahramanmaraş and Hatay. Winning SMEs within the SME Support Mechanism in these six provinces will be free to fulfil their commitments through job retention or job creation.
Flexibility in SSI Premium Days
Within the programme, SMEs are required to pay at least 80 SSI premium days for each created or retained employment within the respective 4-month period. The requirement has been reduced to 40 days for SMEs operating in Adana, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis and Şanlıurfa. SMEs in Ankara, Bursa, İstanbul, İzmir, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Konya, Mardin and Mersin shall pay at least 40 SSI premium days only in the first monitoring period instead of 80 for each employment. For the remaining monitoring periods, at least 80 SSI premium days is required to be paid in these nine provinces.
One-third of the total SSI premium days for the 12 (twelve) months prior to the announcement date of the call for proposals will not be applied towards the fulfilment criteria.
SMEs Have Shown Great Interest to the Employment Committed SME Support Programme
SMEs have shown great interest to the Employment Committed SME Support Programme, under the Empowering the Private Sector to Foster Social and Economic Cohesion in Türkiye – FOSTER Project. A significant amount of applications from SMEs with proposals under the main theme of “Improving Competitiveness and Employment” have been received.
SMEs submitted their proposals on capacity building, increasing market share, increasing the added value of the product and energy efficiency, product development and diversification, digitalization, transition to green production, and business-to-business (B2B) transactions.
Accepted project proposals within the Programme will receive financial support for personnel, machinery, equipment, moulds, software, and training costs. Eligible SMEs can obtain grant support up to 1 million Turkish Liras depending on their employment commitment. Employment will be supported for at least 2,788 people through the grant support for SMEs located in Adana, Ankara, Bursa, Gaziantep, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri, Kilis, Kocaeli, Konya, Mardin, Mersin and Şanlıurfa. Employment will be supported through creation and retention of formal employment.
Timeline of Call for Proposals is Updated Within Employment Committed SME Support Programme!
The Employment Committed SME Support Programme within FOSTER Project continues after an interruption due to earthquake disaster that hit six project provinces. The independent committees formed for the second stage evaluation will evaluate the successful applications from the first stage.
The commencement date of implementation is August 1, 2023.
The updated Timeline of Call for Proposals is as follows;
| TIMELINE | |
| Activities | Date |
| Announcement of Call for Proposals | 26.12.2022 |
| Application | 26.12.2022-27.01.2023 |
| First Stage Evaluation | 30.01.2023-08.05.2023 |
| Administrative Check | 09.05.2023-18.05.2023 |
| Corrections by Applicant SMEs | 19.05.2023-21.05.2023 |
| Final Administrative Check | 22.05.2023-23.05.2023 |
| Second Stage Evaluation and Announcement of Second Stage Scores for Objections | 24.05.2023-21.06.2023 |
| Application for Objections | 22.06.2023-23.06.2023 |
| Reassessment | 26.06.2023-12.07.2023 |
| Board Evaluation for the Eligible Objections | 13.07.2023-26.07.2023 |
| Ranking and Awarding | 27.07.2023-31.07.2023 |
| Implementation Start | 01.08.2023* |
| First Monitoring Period | 01.12.2023 |
| First E&S Monitoring Period | 01.12.2023-01.02.2024 |
| Second Monitoring Period | 01.04.2024 |
| Third Monitoring Period | 01.08.2024 |
| Fourth Monitoring Period | 01.12.2024 |
| Second E&S Monitoring Period | 01.08.2024-01.10.2024 |
| Closure of SME Support Mechanism | 01.03.2025 |
* The commencement date of implementation for SMEs claiming they are unable to involve in support process in Hatay and Kahramanmaraş is 01.01.2024. The monitoring schedules will be determined based on the relevant commencement dates.
More than Thousand SMEs Attended Information Meetings!
FOSTER Project team met more than a thousand SMEs at the Information Meetings that took place between December 2022 and January 2023.
SMEs were informed about the Employment Committed SME Support Programme and the Employment Committed SME Finance Support Programme through sixteen meetings held in Adana, Ankara, Bursa, Gaziantep, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kahramanmaraş, Kayseri, Kilis, Kocaeli, Konya, Mardin, Mersin and Şanlıurfa.
SME representatives were informed on the specifics of both programmes and addressed their questions to the Project Staff about the terms and conditions.