EU-GIZ Support for SMEDA Project officially launched in Armenia

ArmInfo. On October 28, the EU  and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) announced  the launch of the Support for the Small and Medium Enterprises  Development in Armenia (SMEDA) Project on the sidelines of the  EU4Business Week in Armenia. The EU-GIZ- funded project aims to  improve the national business environment and to develop the small  and medium-sized enterprises. 

Mr. Hoa-Binh Adjemian, Head of Operations at the EU Delegation to  Armenia, said that the key idea of the project is to contribute to  creation of nearly 100 SMEs annually in the field of innovations, as  well as to formation of additional values of SMEs. The budget of the  4-year project will be nearly 8 mln EUR.      

Mrs. Eva Naeher, Team Leader of SMEDA Project, said that the project  is aimed at enhancing the quality of services provided to SMEs by  studying their needs and the existing gaps in their activities, as  well as by developing the best approaches. Business associations can  also become the project beneficiaries. She noted that SMEDA is open  for cooperation with SMEs and various business organizations through  nearly 20 clusters that represent the fields of high precision  engineering, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and waste  processing. She also said that the project wants to expand the circle  of beneficiaries. 

To recall, on October 24, Head of the European Union Delegation to  Armenia, H.E. Piotr Antoni Switalski and the RA First Deputy Minister  of Economic Development and Investments, Garegin Melkonyan announced  the launch of the EU4Business Week in Armenia during the opening of  the Eastern Partnership 8th Business Development Panel in Yerevan.  Running from 24 to 28 October 2016, the EU4Business Week will  highlight the EU support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)  through series of events and include other activities facilitating  private-public dialogue for the benefit of businesses both in the  Eastern partner countries and in Armenia. The initiative cooperates  with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),  European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and European  Union Education Foundation.  

To note, the share of SMEs in Armenia's GDP is 30%. By the latest  data, there are nearly 70,000 SMEs in Armenia. At the yearend of  2015, the share of SMEs in the Armenian state budget revenues was  2.4%.