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.
