Supporting Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development

CHF International's Growing Entrepreneurship Rapidly (GER) Initiative is improving the quality of life for residents in Mongolia's peri-urban Ger Areas by supporting local entrepreneurship and facilitating employment opportunities for thousands of residents.

The GER Initiative operates twenty business and employment centers in the cities of Ulaanbaatar, Choibalsan, Darkhan, Erdenet, and Ulgii as well as the three aimags of Tov, Bulgan, and Selenge. Each of these centers serves clients in small manufacturing (e.g., wood, metal-working, textiles), construction, agribusiness and trade services. Specific services provided by the centers include: group development, consulting and training, loan facilitation, employment matching, business-to-business input and sales linkages, and business, market and legal information.

The objectives of the GER Initiative are to:

> Strengthen businesses;
> Create new businesses; and
> Increase employment;

In addition to the GER Initiative, the Improving, Measuring, and Promoting Poverty Alleviation by Cooperatives in Transition Societies (IMPPACTS) program is using a cooperative approach to promote economic development for the poorest strata of four Mongolia cities—Darkhan, Erdenet, Ulaanbaatar, and Choibalsan.

IMPPACTS is directly assisting over 50 business cooperatives and creating and sustaining 4,000 jobs for low-income people.