Minister of Climate Change, Environment and Energy Ali Shareef stated that the government has plans to expand the Vilunveshi Grant programme to give opportunities to companies.
The minister made the remarks during a press meeting today.
The Vilunveshi Grant Programme is a project implemented with the collaboration of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy and SME Digital.
Minister Shareef announced that based on the participation and positive feedback, opportunities would be opened for additional proposals for the Vilunveshi programme next year. The minister added that despite the programme focusing on individual entrepreneurs, plans are underway to expand the programme and give opportunities for companies in the near future.
The programme provides select individuals with approximately USD 6,473.58 as financial assistance. The minister noted that expansion of the programme to allow companies to take part, aims to give companies more financial assistance.
Minister Shareef stated that expanding opportunities under the programme would allow for more start-ups with innovative ideas to roll out its products to the market, supported by financial assistance.
The minister stated that work is underway to evaluate 150 of the proposals submitted to the Vilunveshi Grant programme launched in June. He stated that once the evaluation is complete the selected individuals of the programme will be announced in November. The evaluations will be carried out by the Ministry of Climate Change, Environment and Energy and SME Digital.
The Government stated that the Vilunveshi programme was launched with the aim of protecting the environment from the negative impacts of climate change and to promote environmentally conscious practices to ensure food security. The programme also aims to provide job opportunities with the use of sustainable new inventions and technologies.
The Government has previously stated that once the form evaluation process is over, only 50 of the most competent individuals would receive the grant.