Ploutos Project

ABOUT PLOUTOS Ploutos, God of abundance in ancient Greece, was often depicted together with the Goddess of Peace (Eirene/Ειρήνη), because periods of peace meant wealth and prosperity for the people. This project, as its name suggests, aims to give third country nationals (TCNs) the means that will allow them to prosper in the peaceful environment of their host countries. Integration in EU Member States remains a challenge, not only for TCNs who are seeking to rebuild their lives, but also for the local communities and authorities who envision a peaceful coexistence between and prosperous life of all the people living in these communities. TCNs are plighted by a number of issues that hinder their integration in the financial landscape of the host countries, such as limited access to financial services, low levels of awareness of the financial landscape, high restrictions to access to finance and banking services, low financial literacy levels, absence of interpretation services to assist with financial documents & procedures, low workplace confidence. The purpose of PLOUTOS is to offer TCNs resources and practices to help them navigate financial services in their new homes, to improve the TCNs’ financial literacy, as well as to provide them with training and financing resources relevant to their skills, in order to enhance their smooth integration in the host countries’ business community. The multi-stakeholder consortium of 11 project partners from 7 EU member states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Sweden) includes 2 Universities, 2 SMEs, 1 Banking & 1 Microfinance Associations, 1 Public authority representative, and 4 NGOs, that cover an impressively broad spectrum of expertise in educational, social and financial services.