UN International Trade Center launches in Armenia a program to support SMEs 

ArmInfo.The International Trade Center (ITC) of the United Nations officially announced the launch of the program for SMEs - Ready To Trade, financed by the EU under the EU4BUSINESS initiative for the Eastern Partnership countries.

The coordinator of the ITC program in Armenia, Adelaida Baghdasaryan,  told ArmInfo that as a result of the preliminary research, 20  beneficiaries were selected, out of which 25% are already engaged in  export activities towards the EU and 32% are interested in delivering  their products to the European market.  According to the monitoring,  according to her, three key production groups were selected, which,  according to experts of the Center, has a high export potential for  trade in the EU countries. "These are dried fruits, processed and  canned fruit and vegetable crops and teas," said A. Baghdasaryan. She  explained that ITC will provide the beneficiaries with technical  assistance in the matter of increasing the volume of export supplies  to the markets of the EU countries. "We can provide technical and  technical assistance to small and medium-sized businesses in matters  related to the certification of different types of products. The  world today is moving towards increasing requirements and standards,  especially in terms of food, and partners from EU countries are more  than serious about this issue, "the program coordinator said. In  addition, she noted the technological problems in terms of providing  the relevant equipment and the need to promote marketing in the area  of product labeling.

In total, the cost of the program, according to A. Baghdasaryan,  amounted to 1 million EUR. In particular, she added that soon such  programs, but less large ones, will be implemented in IT and textile  production.

Director of the Department of Regional ITC Programs Ashish Shah said  in an interview with ArmInfo that due to the recent events that  allowed to open a new page in the history of Armenia, the period of  the program implementation was chosen at the right time. Trade,  according to A. Shah, as part of the mosaic has an important role in  terms of continuing the development of Armenia. In addition, the  representative of ITC stressed the importance of increasing the  awareness of SMEs in Armenia about the requirements and standards of  the EU. He explained that the implementation of the program provides  technical support. With each beneficiary the specialists of the  Center will work on an individual basis to identify the main problems  in order to provide the necessary assistance. "I believe that today  the SME is faced with the task of ensuring the requirements that the  EU market places on producers today. First of all, this is the level  of product quality, its certification, packaging, labeling, for  which, as a rule, small and medium-sized businesses do not have  adequate financing," A.Shah concluded.