Monday, March 18 2019 11:50

ArmInfo. The European Union (EU) intends to become <ambassador> of innovations and SMEs in Armenia. This was stated by the Head of the EU mission in Armenia  Piotr Switalski, during a press tour to enterprises and start-ups,  which were provided with financial and technical assistance within  the framework of the EU Small and Medium Enterprise Development  Authority (SMEDA) program.

<This program is very important to us. I am sure that SMEs can be the  driving force of a country's economy, in which, in our opinion, there  is a serious hidden potential. And one of the main directions of  economic development of Armenia is innovation. We are confident that  through the potential of SMEs and innovations, high results can be  achieved. I am glad that the Armenian government shares this opinion  with us, which opens up more opportunities for cooperation, "he said.   The EU Ambassador to Armenia stressed that in European countries, on  average, the share of SMEs in the GDP structure is around 70-80%,  while in Armenia this figure remains at 40%. "Taking into account the  experience of such countries, Armenia still has a long way to go," he  said.

 EU has allocated over 6 million euros within the framework of the  SMEDA program, which is being implemented in Armenia by the German  Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). Thanks to the program,  according to the Ambassador, 224 jobs were created, as a result, 22  new companies appeared on the market, and an additional 400 thousand  euros were attracted. 2063 people took part in seminars, lectures and  boot  camps. In total, 65 startups received assistance in the amount  from 5thsd to 50 thsd euros.  In addition, SMEDA assisted in the  creation of the Academy of Startups of Armenia, the program, which  consists of 3 modules: start-up diagnostics, market selection and  launch strategy, preparation of market validation. The Academy  conducted 3 stages of acceleration programs, in which 41 alumni teams  participated, over 120 teams participated in seminars and lectures,  more than 60 mentors were involved.

At the same time, with the support of SMEDA, the Catalyst Foundation  established the Hero House entrepreneurial center, which was created  to comprehensively develop the technologies and ecosystem of startups  in Armenia through initiatives to explore blockchains, digital  computations, and artificial intelligence.

As part of the press tour, the delegation of the European Union  visited the Hero House business center, where successes registered by  startups (Breedge, Embry, Render Chain) within the framework of EU  support were presented. After that, the European delegation visited  Yeraz Business Center, where the heads of Qube and Cheesify told the  Ambassador about their activities and future plans.  The last point  of the study visit of the European mission was the ANEL (Armenian  National Engineering Laboratories) , which are located on the  territory of the main branch of the National Polytechnic University  of Armenia (NPUA). In ANEL, the Head of the EU mission in Armenia was  presented with the developments and achievements of young  specialists.

At the end of the press tour at the National Center for Innovation  and Entrepreneurship, the official opening of the Startup Europe Week  Yerevan 2019 event took place.  To note, the SMEDA program has been  implemented in Armenia since 2016 by the German Society for  International Cooperation (GIZ) and will last until the end of 2019.  SMEDA is part of the EU EU4Business and EU4Innovation initiative in  the countries of the Eastern Partnership.