Double increase of small businesses and export promotion: what does  Armenia promise with a document entitled "SME Development Strategy  for 2019-2023"

ArmInfo. The Government of Armenia has developed and sent to interested organizations the project "Strategies for the Development of Small Medium-Sized  Enterprises of Armenia 2019-2023". By the end of the document, as the  developers assure, by many parameters, Armenia in the field of SMEs  will reach 70% of the average in the Baltic countries.

According to some media outlets in whose hands the project fell, this  document establishes a policy framework aimed at developing SMEs,  goals and expected results, and specific measures to achieve these  goals over the next 5 years.

So, the strategy is aimed at increasing the number of small and  medium-sized enterprises per 1000 population, especially in the  regions of the republic. Currently, the average number of SMEs per  1000 population is 20.1 units. By the end of the document, it is  planned to increase the indicator to 42 units. The indicator will  thus reach 70% of the average of the Baltic countries. At the same  time, special attention will be paid to increasing the number of SMEs  in the regions of the republic, where today the indicator reaches  15.8 units.

The next goal of the strategy is to increase the productivity of  SMEs. At this stage, the labor productivity of one employee in  medium-sized companies is about 7.8 million drams (about $ 16.3  thousand), and for small and medium-sized companies - about 8.3  million drams (about $ 17.2 thousand). By the end of 2023, it is  planned to bring revenue per employee to $ 27.7 thousand - up to 70%  of the average in the Baltic countries.

The document also aims to increase the availability of financial  resources for SMEs by developing alternative financing instruments.

During 2019-2023, measures will be taken to create a single brand,  with which Armenia should go into export, export consortiums and  logistics centers. To this end, a series of legislative measures will  be held, the organization of courses and exhibitions, export  subsidies, etc.

Recall that according to the data of the National SME Development  Center (SME DNC) at the beginning of July 2018, for several years the  share of SMEs in the structure of Armenia's GDP has remained  unchanged, amounting to about 28%. According to the criteria of the  National Center, of the 75,000 SME business entities operating at  that time in Armenia, 60% are private entrepreneurs and only 40% are  organizations.  It should be noted that ArmInfo correspondent failed  to directly familiarize themselves with the text of the document. As  ArmInfo was told in the press service of the Ministry of Economy, the  project is still under development, it is undergoing a discussion  stage with interested structures and, for some reason, is not subject  to public discussion at this stage of publication.