Germany to allocate EUR 84.6 million grant and loan to Armenia for  development of priority areas

ArmInfo.Germany will allocate grant and loan funds in the amount of 84.6 million euros to  Armenia for the development of priority areas. Armenia's Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan announced November 22, summarizing the results of the two-day intergovernmental negotiations on the development of  Armenian-German cooperation in Yerevan.

The funds, he said, will be used to implement programs in the field  of renewable energy, secondary specialized education, as well as to  strengthen the potential of the regions of Armenia in order to  improve the quality of services provided.

In turn, Parliamentary State Secretary of the German Ministry for  Economic Cooperation and Development, Niels Annen noted that separate  assistance to the Armenian government will also be provided for the  integration of the forcibly displaced population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

He emphasized that Germany sees the colossal efforts being made in  Armenia to improve the investment environment, as well as in the  fight against corruption. "We intend to make additional investments  in this direction to consolidate the achieved results and provide an  opportunity for continued development," Mr.  Annen said.

According to the State Secretary, a separate agreement was also  reached with the Central Bank of Armenia to provide assistance to  small and medium-sized businesses. "This will increase the  accessibility of SMEs to credit funds, which is especially important  in the context of the formation of start-up capital. And I am sure  that numerous jobs will open here," he said.

At the same time, he highly appreciated the "Crossroads of the Peace"  project presented by the Prime Minister of Armenia. In this regard,  the State Secretary emphasized that he intends to present this  project to the representatives of the German business sector, so that  they may consider the prospects that can be opened with its  implementation in their investment activities.

According to the RA Statistics Committee data, foreign trade turnover  between Armenia and Germany for 9 months of this year increased by  49.8%, amounting to $495.3 million. At the same time, exports  decreased by 17.1% to $67 million, while imports increased by 71. 4%  to $428.3 million.

The net flow of investment from Germany into the real sector of the  Armenian economy reached a positive level, amounting to $1.9 million,  of which $780 thousand is FDI.

The lion's share of German investment is in the machinery and  equipment sector, with a small amount directed towards the production  of tobacco products. At the same time, Germany has reduced  investments in the production of basic metals, the provision of  electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning, software development,  consulting and related activities in the field of IT.