Empowering Trade and Competitiveness in Eastern Partner Countries

For over 15 years, the OECD has supported Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries in analysing economic reform priorities and shaping national policy frameworks to foster business environment reforms and achieve resilient and sustainable economic growth. Building on this experience and in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the OECD is implementing the EU4Business project Empowering Trade and Competitiveness in EaP Countries (ETaC), funded by the European Union.

The project aims to promote high-quality, evidence-based economic policy design and implementation, and is centred around the following main components: 

• Design of strong, data-driven economic policies through a first OECD Competitiveness Outlook, analysing economic trends and benchmarking regional reform priorities to drive overall competitiveness and economic resilience
• Entrepreneurship development through the SME Policy Index, monitoring progress in SME policy reforms, identification of emerging policy priorities and peer learning
• Capacity building and implementation support to strengthen institutions for entrepreneurship, investment and trade facilitation
• Trade facilitation, to simplify and modernise cross-border trade in the EaP region by advancing trade facilitation reforms, digital solutions, and institutional capacity to reduce time, cost, and complexity of trade
• Export readiness support to SMEs, by helping compliance with EU standards, improving product quality, facilitating market access and promoting green, digital and inclusive business practices through stronger business support organisations
• Trade intelligence through the EaP Trade Helpdesk, to provide SMEs, BSOs and policymakers with better trade intelligence while strengthening national institutions’ capacity to produce and use trade data for informed strategies and policymaking. 

The SME Policy Index is a benchmarking tool designed for emerging economies to assess SME policy frameworks and monitor progress in policy implementation over time. The Index identifies strengths and weaknesses in policy design and implementation, allows for comparison across countries and measures convergence towards good practices and relevant policy standards. It aims to support governments in setting targets for SME policy development and to identify strategic priorities to further improve the business environment. It also helps to engage governments in policy dialogue and exchange good practices within the region and with OECD and EU members.

Under the ETaC project, the OECD will carry out a fifth round of the SBA assessment, leading to a new edition of the SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries report. As with the previous editions, the analysis will revolve around five thematic pillars:

• Responsive Government
• Entrepreneurial Human Capital
• Access to Finance
• Access to Markets
• Innovation and Business Support

The fifth edition of the SME Policy Index: Eastern Partner Countries is expected to be published in December 2027.

Country-level projects will complement the benchmarking exercises with tailored advisory support. These activities have proven effective in advancing governments’ reform ambitions in the past and, as part of the ETaC project, they will be further developed and implemented. Their main objective will be to build capacity and strengthen local institutions.

The EU4Business: Empowering Trade and Competitiveness in EaP Countries project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the OECD in partnership with the International Trade Centre.  

EU4Business - Empowering Trade and Competitiveness in EaP Countries: Project overview and kick-off session (18 Septembre 2025 ) Chișinău, République de Moldavie.

For more information, please contact Daniel Quadbeck, Head of  Unit for Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, Global Relations and Co-operation Directorate, Daniel.Quadbeck@oecd.org.