About the Initiative
Mayors for Economic Growth (M4EG) is a new initiative of the European Union, which was set in operation in January 2017 within the Eastern Partnership framework. The M4EG Secretariat is the main executive body in charge of the Initiative implementation in the region.
Our overall goal is to support Mayors and municipalities of the Eastern Partnership countries to become active facilitators for economic growth and job creation at the local level.
Mayors for Economic Growth has an ambition to grow into an extensive professional community across the region, which will require certain commitments from its members, but which offers solid expert and peer-to-peer support, assistance in broadly sharing successes, as well as other significant economic, political and reputational gains.
Approach
The Mayors for Economic Growth approach is based on the following considerations:
- Worldwide, the private sector is the key driver of economic growth and development.
- All regions, cities and localities have particular strengths that can be harnessed to generate growth and employment.
- Public private dialogue and cooperation plus engagement with civil society actors is key to unleashing local economic potential.
- Local administrations are uniquely positioned to initiate and implement bottom-up actions to facilitate growth.
- To achieve tangible results, these actions will most likely need to address several of the following “building blocks” of issues, comprising the main factors stimulating growth and employment. They are:
- Regulatory and Institutional Framework
- Access to Finance
- Land and Infrastructure
- Skills and Human Capital, Inclusiveness
- External Positioning and Marketing
- The internal motivation, preparedness, and adequate capacity of the local public authorities to manage local economic growth are characteristic of every territory with a successful local economy. Therefore, participation in the Mayors for Economic Growth Initiative is voluntary to reflect the following two key underlying local preconditions for private sector growth, namely:
- Business-friendly, Transparent and Corruption-Free Administration
- Local Cooperation and Networking
More information is available in the Concept (General Principles and Approaches) of Mayors for Economic Growth.
How it works
Once a city/municipality joins the Mayors for Economic Growth Initiative by signing the M4EG Membership form, the M4EG Secretariat works with the signatory in order to help them to:
- Understand their potential to improve their economic situation;
- Acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in order to build their capacity to make positive changes;
- Create their own “tailor-made” solutions and prepare Local Economic Development Plan to implement them;
- Take concerted pro-development actions and evaluate achieved results;
- Showcase the signatories’ successes and promote the corresponding territories to active donors and investors within the region and beyond.
The M4EG Secretariat places a high value on close cooperation and regular personal interaction with the signatories. However, due to the extensive geography to be covered, different level of capacity in the M4EG members, as well as limited resources at the Secretariat’s disposal, the M4EG Secretariat team makes every effort to provide opportunities for self-paced work within the Initiative through the available online resources and the Helpdesk option.
Please see more information on the principles of collaboration with the M4EG Secretariat here.
How to join
Local administrations and mayors in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are invited to sign up for the Mayors for Economic Growth membership if they are ready to accept the M4EG guiding principles in order to spur self-sustained local economic growth; work to develop locally inspired solutions; and implement them with M4EG Secretariat guidance and support.
Main documents
Eastern Partnership is an initiative of the European Union aimed at strengthening relations between the EU and its eastern neighbours. It is based on a commitment to the principles of international law and fundamental values - democracy, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms. It also encompasses support for a market economy, sustainable development and good governance. Eastern Partnership embraces six countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
