ArmInfo. Only 60% of SMEs in Armenia are active taxpayers that ensure 2% of Armenian GDP, President of the "SME Cooperation Association" NGO Hakob Avagyan has told ArmInfo. In this light, the expert notes that the situation will not change within the next 3-4 years until sufficient steps are taken towards improving the situation of SMEs in Armenia. Only after that, he says, SMEs will be able to play a serious role in development of the national economy.
He thinks that the main problem in promotion of SMEs is not the legislation regulating the SME's activities, but the inefficient use of that legislation, particularly, in protection of entrepreneurs' rights. "To briefly define the problem that hampers natural development of small and medium-sized enterprises, one can say that the problem is the lack of political will. No matter how effective economic reforms are, they will give no result without a political framework," he says. Among other obstacles, the expert pointed at the lack of financial access for SME representatives, as well as the customs problems and the limited sales markets.
Avagyan also says that 52% of SMEs are concentrated in Yerevan.
To note, according to official statistics, there are currently some 70,000 SMEs in Armenia, including 58 thsd micro- and small enterprises, and 10 thsd medium-sized ones. In 2015, the share of SMEs in GDP dropped to 30% (versus the previous 42%), and the SME sector secured only 6% of tax revenues.