Romanian companies can now sign up for a government support program meant to help their promotion on international markets, Ilan Laufer, Minister for the Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, said on Tuesday.

The budget of the program in 2017 is 5 million lei (1.28 million U.S. dollars), which will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, the minister added.

A company can get as much as 50,000 lei, but the applicants have to contribute matching funds of 10 percent, said Laufer, specifying that the use of the budget and the limits of expenditure are strictly regulated.

The maximum eligible budget is 30,000 lei for individual attendance of international trade fairs and exhibitions, and 15,000 lei for individual attendance of trade missions abroad.

The total budget of the program is 71 million lei for 2017-20. (1 U.S. dollar=3.91 lei)