The action enhance economic inclusive growth and job creation in the region by supporting local authorities in the Eastern Partnership countries to design and implement Local Economic Development Plans (LEDP). The action complies with the overall strategy and outcomes outlined in the Action Document – by strengthening capacities of local governments, creating inclusive innovation processes for design of investable projects that correspond to the developed LEDPs, and investing in portfolios of projects, in a way that bring tangible benefits to citizens.

To support local authorities and economies, the EU launched the first phase of the M4EG project that introduced an integrated approach to local economies. The project’s second stage offers a new methodology to galvanize EaP municipalities to produce bankable portfolios of projects and serve as a platform for municipalities to enable and learn about urban transformation through online and offline tailored experiences.

The project's overall objective is to support local authorities in the EaP region to become active facilitators for sustainable economic growth and job creation through implementing a portfolio approach that will unpack their needs and solve complex problems by collaborating with different stakeholders, experimenting and testing various solutions.

The specific objectives are:
- To assist local authorities in the collaborative preparation of an investment-ready portfolio of projects
- To bring active learning and knowledge-sharing components within the entire network of M4EG
- To improve local authorities’ abilities in utilizing inclusive innovation processes for green recovery and development of local authorities
- To directly support city and town authorities that are members of the M4EG network in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

- M4EG network municipalities will benefit from training, capacity development and knowledge exchange activities.
- 10 selected local authorities will benefit from design, development of capabilities and seeding a portfolio of 50 projects.
- The Local Economic Development Plans will be revised by introduction of Pathways for Economic Growth that will allow to look beyond the economic prosperity components for local development to integrate aspects of social inclusion and seeking to move toward trans- formational growth trajectories.
- In response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, selected municipalities in Ukraine and Moldova will be able to re-start a local economy by addressing the immediate needs in the city on the ground, regarding the city structures and the immediate capacity needs of local authorities.