Taiwan investors support ‘SME Growth Market Project’

After a visit to Tapei, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) are working together to find ways of developing local markets. In the visit, they had meetings with the TWSE Stock Exchange, the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs, and many other institutions.

As the EBRD and ZSE continue to work together on the ‘SME Growth Market Project’, they have now received support through the Taiwan Business-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund which is set to encourage and support all development for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Within the Croatian economy, SMEs are very important but they are still struggling to find financing. However, this situation could improve once capital markets provide additional financing and the joint venture discussed previously is aiming to set up new financing platforms to make this happen. In compliance with the action plan of the European Union’s (EU) Capital Market Union, SMEs will benefit from a working attractive instrument.

According to reports, the EU is in support of this project as it fits in with their ‘Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2’ which is set to begin in 2018. With new regulations, the listing and reporting requirements for SMEs will ease compared to the main markets. For the ZSE, it is vital that the project works both now and in the long-term. However, there also needs to be a balance between information that the investors need and listing requirements.

Thanks to the recent visit to Taiwan, the project not only has financial support but also business experience that could prove invaluable as references for many other nations.