State Support For The Crafts And Trades : Germany

The Federal Government helps small and medium-sized craft enterprises to maintain and increase their competitiveness. Assistance covers information and further training opportunities, management consultancy and low-interest loans. The federal and state governments also finance programs to help new firms get off the ground. On 1 January 1996, the Upgrading Training Assistance Act (AFBG; the so-called “Meister-BAfoG") entered into force. It gives skilled workers who are preparing for master craftsman certification or a comparable higher vocational certification a legal entitlement to state financial support, which is awarded partly as a grant and partly as a loan. The cost is borne jointly by the Federation and the states.