Why are so many applying to “Double Your Enterprise”?

By Fatos Çoçoli

More than 800 businesses applied in the first week alone after applications officially opened for the “Double Your Enterprise” program, showing strong interest from enterprises in the government’s new investment-financing instrument. The program aims to ease access to credit for businesses seeking to expand their activity, buy new machinery and technology, or increase their production and service capacities.

Applications are made online, through an automated platform of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, accessible on the e-Albania portal. Businesses must request the service “Expression of interest for ‘Double Your Enterprise'”, fill in their basic data, including the NIPT, and submit the plan-idea, the investment concept they seek to finance. Through the platform, entrepreneurs track the status of the request and the stage of the process.

This early interest should be seen not simply as a number of applications, but as a signal about the needs of Albanian business for financing, technology, new capacities and market expansion.

800 applications in the first week: a strong signal from business

The fact that more than 800 enterprises showed interest in the first week indicates a concrete demand from businesses for public support in the expansion phase. This is important, because an economy does not grow only by creating new businesses. A strong part of growth comes from existing businesses that invest, increase production, open new jobs and enter new markets.

The high first-week interest comes after the program has also entered the phase of concrete financing. According to data made public by the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, 20 businesses have received financing approval and 12 of them have signed the first contracts, with approved loans worth around 296 million lek, or over 3.3 million euros. The first investments have started in Lushnjë, Fier, Berat, Shkodër, Vlorë and Tirana, while financing has been directed toward new machinery and technologies, capacity expansion and the development of activities in sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, transport and hospitality.

The government’s “Double Your Enterprise” program is backed by a sovereign guarantee, designed to ease access to financing for small and medium enterprises. It provides soft loans, with an upper limit of up to 2 million euros, a maturity of up to 10 years and low annual interest rates, up to 2 percent.

For many years, part of economic policy has focused on creating new businesses and formalizing economic activity. But a modern economy also needs another phase: helping existing businesses grow.

Programs that encourage expansion can help an enterprise that today has 5–10 employees move to another level of activity, buy equipment, invest in technology, increase production capacity, or expand its market.

The domino effect of “Double Your Enterprise”

The effect of a business using the program’s support to increase its capacity is not limited to that company. The growth of this business’s activity brings more employment, more income for employees, more purchases from suppliers, more production and more exports. Also, more tax revenue and private investment.

So, one euro of support directed toward productive investment brings a larger economic effect than its initial value.

The program also helps create larger enterprises. One of the structural weaknesses of our economy is the large weight of small and micro enterprises. Small businesses are important for employment and the local economy, but face constraints in access to financing, technology and productivity.

The program’s support helps some of them move to a higher level of production and development.

The importance of investing in technology

One of the best uses of the program is support for technological modernization. Businesses that invest in automation, digitalization, computer programs, modern machinery and artificial intelligence increase their productivity, without production or service growth having to come only from increasing the number of employees.

This is especially important for us, in a period when labor shortages are becoming a constraint on the expansion of many businesses.

On the other hand, investing in technology also offers opportunities for export growth. A business that expands domestically can create capacity to enter foreign markets. This is one of the most important objectives such a policy can have.

Selling more in the domestic market is positive, but winning new markets outside Albania is even more important, for the balance of our economy. That is why the ‘Double Your Enterprise’ program prioritizes support for businesses with export potential.