Small and medium enterprises are considered the core of the Palestinian economy because of their essential role in the process of economic and social development. Hence, we believe that the economy of the city of Jerusalem depends greatly on the efficiency of these projects operating in it and on their expansion, and this can only be achieved by raising their administrative, financial and operational efficiency, which leads to increasing job opportunities for Jerusalemites, and supporting commercial and economic activity in the city, and this in turn supports It strengthens the steadfastness of the Jerusalemite citizen.

Based on this, the Palestine Investment Fund, with joint funding with the European Union, launched the Jerusalem Financing Program over the past six years, which resulted in supporting more than 75 Jerusalem projects, creating and maintaining more than 650 job opportunities, and pumping approximately 4.0 million euros through the provision of grants. Directly for projects operating in Jerusalem, and contributed by injecting a similar amount from the project owners themselves due to the nature of the grant that requires the beneficiaries’ contribution.

Small and medium enterprises in Jerusalem suffer from weakness in various areas, including high administrative costs, high taxes, difficulty in accessing financing, and other obstacles of the occupation, which made attention to environmental aspects and focus on environmentally friendly equipment and machines or providing clean and renewable energy alternatives at the lowest level. Priorities of these projects. Hence the idea of ​​launching the Jerusalem Grant Program for Green Energy and Sustainability, which specializes in clean energy and environmentally friendly equipment, emerged, which will contribute to increasing the number of projects interested in alternative and renewable energy as an economic solution to the problem of the high cost of energy in Jerusalem. The program will provide financing in the form of grants under certain conditions for projects that prove their ability to use financing in a way that serves their commercial interests, on the one hand, and use environmentally friendly equipment and machines, or expand the production of renewable energy through the use and installation of solar panels, for example, on the roofs of shops and tourist hotels. And factories on the other hand. The project will also serve a number of civil and non-profit organizations in Jerusalem, which are ready to invest in effective energy solutions that will contribute to achieving energy security, reduce the costs of consumed energy, and have a clear impact on the local community in which they operate.

The size of the program is 2.40 million euros and the program extends for three years from 2022 until the end of 2024. The program targets small and medium-sized Jerusalemite enterprises operating primarily within a number of economic sectors, which include tourism, industry, services, trade, information technology, services, workshops and craft works, and tourist transportation.

The program provides grants ranging from (10 thousand euros – 100 thousand euros) to support small and medium enterprises as follows:

• Purchase environmentally friendly equipment and machines
• Installing solar panels on the roofs of hotels, factories or group projects that share a workplace
• Supporting projects that adopt recycling activities in their production
• Improving workplaces from a structural perspective if this will affect the efficiency of the energy consumed and lead to a reduction in energy consumption costs
• Energy efficiency consulting services
• The marketing grant will be added as a condition for the original expansion grant based on the evaluation and advice of the program’s marketing advisor

As for the uses of grants for non-profit organizations/institutions, they include the following:

• Installing the organization’s own solar panels in order to reduce the energy costs used
• Enhancing institutional buildings by creating environmentally friendly facilities
• Investing in smart solutions that contribute to an energy-conserving environment and organization and save consumption and costs.
• In limited cases, the Steering Committee can accept applications that request funding that is less or higher than the proposed
• minimum and maximum of up to 30%. The use of this exception is limited to the exceptional cases described within the Grant Criteria section

In order for your projects to be eligible to participate in the program, you must take into account that there are general standards that must be met, such as:

• The project must be classified within the accepted definition of micro, small and medium enterprises in Palestine in terms of the number of jobs and annual revenues.
• Investing in environmentally friendly ideas that will have a positive impact on the environment and the community in which they work, and providing viable ideas and solutions that will have a positive impact on financial performance in the short and long term.
• Whether through increasing revenues, reducing costs which is reflected in better profit margins, or through finding new sources of income such as investing in solar panels, recycling activities and green initiatives.
• The presence of expansion and development ideas that include purchasing environmentally friendly equipment and machines or adopting concepts and approaches that contribute positively to business sustainability and profits, whether in the short or long term.
• Provides growth opportunities and development impact
• Contribute to supporting and sustaining the presence of Palestinian businesses in Jerusalem by investing in sustainable energy solutions that will contribute to the continued existence of these projects.
• Providing administrative efficiency, or the ability of management to absorb new knowledge with the aim of improving the overall performance of the project and moving towards the institutionalization of work
• The legal status is sound, and there are no legal obstacles that may affect the progress of the project and affect the required financing
• Grants must be used to fund permitted uses only
• Meeting financing requirements, especially with regard to matching the project owner’s minimum contribution to the total cost of development
• The grant or expansion plan must help create job opportunities to enable the program to achieve its goals. More priority will be given to projects that create more jobs than others
• The project must be located in the city of Jerusalem or its work is concentrated in the city of Jerusalem, including within and outside the municipal borders, including the suburbs and villages of Jerusalem.

As for the eligibility criteria for non-profit organizations or companies/institutions, they are as follows:

• Legal registration as a local NGO, or non-profit institution/company, and submitting an official registration certificate
• Submit a proposal that includes details of energy consumption and the proposed idea that requires support that contributes to the sustainability of the organization and the move towards sustainable energy
• Grant uses must be directed toward investing in solutions related to renewable energy and environmental improvement
• Feasible ideas and solutions that will have a positive impact on the financial performance of the organization in the short and long term, by reducing costs and contributing to creating sustainability for the organization.