Global Gateway Business Opportunities

Contribute to Global Gateway project implementation

TAKE PART IN THE INVESTMENT HUB

Tenders and Call for Proposals

Visit the EU Tenders Portal to search for calls for proposals and tenders published by EU institutions, agencies, and bodies. Use the 'All Filters' option to select partner countries and view relevant tenders. You can search by country, region, and sector, or enter your area of interest (e.g., 'energy') in the search menu to find ongoing opportunities in your field. A helpdesk and a guidance section are available to assist with applying to tenders and submitting grant proposals.

Procurement notices can also be found on the TED website. Enter your area of interest (e.g., 'digital') and then filter by region.

Additionally, review the tender websites of EU Member States. You can also consult the websites of government ministries in partner countries, where tenders for investments not directly implemented by the EU are published.

Join ongoing projects

Global Gateway projects create new business opportunities by mobilising relevant stakeholders and resources and removing barriers for businesses. Review the list of Global Gateway projects and assess whether new opportunities are being opened for your company. To better assess potential economic opportunities, you can receive additional information by reaching out to the relevant EU Delegation or EU Member States institution.

If you would like to receive support for a project proposal linked to Global Gateway, review the support programmes available to companies.

If you would like to submit a proposal for a large, strategic and transformative investment project, start your engagement by reaching out to the relevant EU Delegation.

Support to business initiatives

The EU provides various types of financial and non-financial support to business initiatives. In this regard, EU delegations facilitate public-private dialogue and accompany relevant investment projects to take place, through technical assistance, skills development, improvement of the regulatory environment and financial support amongst others.Information about sectoral priorities between the EU and partner countries is available in the country action plans and multiannual indicative programmes. These documents are available on the country pages of the INTPA, ENEST and MENA websites.

Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), EU Member States Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), and Development Cooperation agencies provide several financial services to private sector initiatives in partner countries. Find out more about DFIs and ECAs below. Also, review the support provided by EU Member States to companies operating abroad.

The EU provides various types of support to EU businesses operating in Global Gateway sectors worldwide. 

Click here to find an overview of support available

Examples of the direct support programmes for companies include:

• EFSD+
  The European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) is an EU financing tool supporting private and public investors. It provides a wide range of types of investments (e.g. loans, equity, debt investments, local currency loans, etc.) across various regions (e.g. sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Asia, Southern and Eastern Neighbourhood). Private investors should review the various EFSD+ tools and reach out to the contact point of the relevant ones.
• Get Invest
  GET.invest mobilises investment in renewable energy in developing countries. It helps project teams achieve investment readiness and connects them to financiers. It also facilitates access to European support and financing instruments for all Green Energy investments in Africa.
• ElectriFI
  The Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFI) is a EUR 275+ million impact investment facility committed to increase access to clean energy in developing countries. ElectriFI aims to support investments that increase and/or improve access to modern, affordable, and sustainable energy services.
• AgriFI
  EDFI AgriFI is a EUR 120m impact investment facility funded by the European Union with a mandate to provide medium to long-term financing to private sector enterprises active in the agri-food value chain with a focus on smallholder farmers. EDFI AgriFI's offering combines investment capital and technical assistance.
• EU Due Diligence Navigator 
  The EU Due Diligence Navigator is a dedicated service to find information and support on the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D). It offers a curated database of tools and resources as well as a team of experts, that can help business partners in EU partner countries prepare for expectations of the CS3D.
• D4D Hub
  The Digital for Development (D4D) Hub is a strategic platform that aims to strengthen digital cooperation between the European Union and its Member States (Team Europe) and partners in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the EU neighbouring countries. It fosters multi-stakeholder collaboration, boosting investments, facilitating dialogue, and increasing coordination. The D4D Hub private sector advisory Group is the dedicated way for companies to engage and discuss proposals in the context of the D4D Hub.
• Switch Asia
  Switch Asia supports the transition of Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific to a low-carbon, resource- efficient and circular economy while promoting sustainable production and consumption patterns, and greener supply chains between these regions and Europe. It provides grants in the areas such as energy efficiency in industrial plants and houses, agri-food and fishing sectors, textiles and leather, tourism, logistics and freight.

Support to SMEs

The European Union recognises the crucial role that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) play in driving economic growth, innovation, and job creation. In addition to the above support programmes, the EU offers specific support to help SMEs export and invest beyond the EU. Examples include:

• Enterprise Europe Network (EEN)
  The EEN is the world's largest support network for SMEs with international ambitions. The Network’s international business experts have the experience and resources to help SMEs grow and can advise on the best market opportunities to expand internationally. The EEN offers a wide range of services, including market research, business matchmaking, innovation support, access to finance, and access to EU funding programmes.
• Intellectual Property Helpdesk
  The helpdesk provides free-of-charge, first-line support to European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on intellectual property (IP) management, protection and enforcement covering six different regions: China, Europe, India, Latin America, South-East Asia, and Africa. It also provides a library of support materials such as guides, case studies, and video clips.

Find other EU tools supporting the internationalisation of EU SMEs.

Take part to EU business fora

EU business fora are held wordwide, bringing togehter EU stakeholders and companies, the local private sectors and high-level government representatives. These fora facilitate dialogue around Global Gateway priority topics. 

Businesses are invited to take part to EU business fora to meet new partners, pitch their project and engage in public-private dialogue.

Market access information

The EU provides online resources and support to assist businesses in global operations. With EU support, the International Trade Centre provides a wide range of business intelligence tools for SMEs, large companies, and business organisations:

• The Trade Map provides indicators on export performance, international demand, alternative markets and competitive markets, as well as a directory of import and export companies.
• The Market Access Map allows users to access, compare, analyse and download customs tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, trade remedies and non-tariff measures applicable to a specific good in any market in the world.
• The Export Potential Map turns economic analysis into practical trade information.
• The StandardsMap provides information on voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), codes of conduct, audit protocols, reporting frameworks and business sustainability programmes.

Business environment improvement

The EU contributes to the improvement of the business environment in partner countries. This takes place through a wide range of actions including dialogue, technical and financial support. The impact of these activities benefit the private sector indirectly. Prominent activities include the ones described below.

Trade and investment agreements help improve the business environment in partner countries. They boost trade and create new opportunities, incentivise EU investments through increased legal certainty and stability, and include strong sustainability commitments.

The EU is the world’s top provider of budget support. This system involves direct financial transfers to the treasuries of partner countries engaging in sustainable development reforms. As it fosters transparency and good governance, budget support contributes to the fight against corruption and the creation of a favourable climate for private investments in our partner countries.

Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument (TAIEX) provides peer-to-peer technical assistance and policy support to help implement structural reforms and improve regional and environmental policies. Public sector experts from EU Member States visit partner countries to provide up to 5 days’ advice.

Twinning establishes medium to long-term institutional cooperations between EU Member State public administrations and beneficiary or partner countries. This mechanism supports institutional capacity building through reform processes and peer-to-peer cooperation. Twinning projects are generally implemented over 12 to 36 months.