ArmInfo. In order to develop tourism in Armenia, ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, in the framework of a joint project with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) "Integrated Development of Agritourism", held the event "Direction - Armenia". The press service of the bank told ArmInfo that the participants of the event were businessmen who had achieved success in the field of tourism, as well as those who were interested in transforming their home in the village into a guest house and the community into a tourist center.
<Our goal is that companies operating in the field of tourism, coming here and getting to know each other, share their experiences and improve their services. In Armenia, this is not our first step for tourism development; we have been conducting free trainings for representatives of this sphere for two years now. We have 4 topics that we successfully presented during the trainings, which were attended by about 100 people. We plan to continue this direction in the future, "said Arsen Melkonyan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, noting the importance of developing any sector of the Armenian economy, in particular, the tourism sector.
In turn, UNDP Resident Representative in Armenia Dmitry Mariasin stressed that the purpose of the joint initiative is quite simple and clear. <We want to create new tourist places on the map of Armenia. We are glad that we were able to cooperate with the bank in the new innovative format proposed by it. The bank includes modules that are also provided for in our tourism development programs. This allows the bank's customers to expand business ideas, combine the idea of tourism development with agriculture and make better business projects, "he said.
According to the source, in order to promote SME development in Armenia, the Bank, within the framework of its non-financial services, has been conducting free business courses for about 5 years. Until now, many representatives of SMEs operating in the field of tourism have participated in courses organized by the bank, acquiring knowledge necessary for business management, which will help increase their competitiveness in the market.
Note that the program "Integrated development of agro-tourism" is funded by the Russian Federation, implemented by the UNDP office together with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures.
Recall that ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank CJSC has been operating in Armenia since 1995. The majority shareholders of the bank as of January 1, 2019 are: Joint-Stock Company SJSC "Sacam International" (member of Credit Agricole S.A) - 6.48% and ACBA Federation CJSC - 93.52%.