EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Develo : launches training series for consultants in Cyprus

New series of courses, 'Grow Your Consulting Business', introduced to boost local consultancy market in Cyprus

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has brought its 'Grow Your Consulting Business' training series to Cyprus. The programme offers a set of six courses covering essential skills, resources and techniques for effective and impactful consulting as well as for running a successful consultancy business.

The first course, 'Business Diagnostics for Consulting', took place at the Home for Cooperation in the UN Buffer Zone in Nicosia, between 14 and 16 December 2015. 22 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot professional consultants participated in the course which was delivered by Nicholas Warn, a trainer with 23 years of experience in management consulting. The participants had the opportunity to meet, learn from each other's experiences and develop a professional network.

The 'Business Diagnostics for Consulting' course is designed to strengthen the analytical capabilities of consultants and help them to deliver results that are truly relevant to their clients. With the generous help of the EBRD Special Shareholder Fund the Bank was able to share training fees with the consultants.

'The 'Grow Your Consulting Business' courses are offered by the EBRD as part of our activities to promote small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Under the Bank's Small Business Initiative one of our objectives is to strengthen the capacity of local markets,' said Libor Krkoška, EBRD Head of Office in Nicosia.

'The EBRD provides SMEs with direct assistance to access the finance and know-how that can grow their businesses, helping them adapt to the demands of a modern market economy. Our advisory activities were launched in Cyprus in 2015. We believe that helping SMEs to become more competitive in a global economy will contribute to bringing the country back onto a path of solid growth.'

The EBRD has successfully provided SMEs with business advice for more than 20 years, committing over €230 million of donor funds to assist over 15,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in 35 countries. The vast majority of companies that have benefited from the programme experienced an increase in their turnover and productivity and results are equally impressive with regard to job creation and access to external finance.

Consultants who work with the EBRD are part of a growing network of over 6,000 professionals with whom the Bank connects local firms for dynamic projects in numerous areas of expertise.

For further information about the EBRD's advisory work in Cyprus please contact Gavriella Kantouna and Bilgehan Kayalar in the SME Finance and Development Group, on [phone].

Information about the EBRD activities in Cyprus is also available at http://www.ebrd.com/ebrd-in-cyprus.html, while information about advisory services is at www.ebrd.com/knowhow.