Registrations Open for 6th Business Partnership Facility

Yesterday marked the launch of the 6th edition of the Buusiness Partnership Facility (BPF) of Luxembourg's development cooperation programme.

On Monday 1 March 2021, Franz Fayot, Luxembourg's Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, and Carlo Thelen, Director General of the Chamber of Commerce, launched the 6th edition of the BPF. The online launch brought together nearly 100 people, most of whom were entrepreneurs.

BPF is a co-financing facility aimed at encouraging the Luxembourg and European private sector to join forces with partners in developing countries to set up sustainable commercial projects. Co-financing takes the form of a grant which can cover up to 50% of the total budget of a project, without exceeding the threshold of €200,000. It contributes to development and job creation in developing countries and to the transfer of technology and expertise.

This year, the sector of "the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic" has been added to the list of eligible sectors. The others are: CleanTech, Eco-innovation and Circular economy; Space; Fintech; HealthTech; Mobility and logistics; Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

Thomas Lammar of the cooperation and humanitarian affairs department presented the BPF, its eligibility conditions and its evaluation criteria.

Minister Franz Fayot then explained the synergies that exist between the Luxembourg development cooperation programme and businesses. BPF is aimed at allowing developing countries to attract the investments, technologies and expertise available in Luxembourg. On the other hand, companies have the possibility of entering new markets which may be too risky without state intervention and of establishing mutually beneficial partnerships with local players. The minister explained: “The Luxembourg Cooperation strategy recognises the essential role of the private sector, as well as the resources and innovations that it can bring to promote economic development synonymous with inclusive and sustainable growth. Luxembourg therefore facilitates the exploration of collaboration opportunities to promote job creation, private sector development in the field, and ultimately poverty reduction".

Carlo Thelen reiterated the support of the Chamber of Commerce and highlighted the excellent collaboration between the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Lux-Development, the Ministry of the Economy and the Chamber of Trade in the context of BPF. He congratulated all the partners for having succeeded in maintaining the 2020 edition of the BFP programme, launched on the eve of the first lockdown, exactly one year ago. 

The call for applications for this year's edition of the BPF is now open. Further information is available at www.bpf.lu.